Repair now done

Our CICU nurse just called and told us the repair work is done.  Gwen was cooled down to slow her blood flow, and she's now being warmed up.  She's still on a heart/lung bypass, and will be until they give her an echocardiogram.  If they kept her native valve, it's possible they might decide after seeing the echo that they will have to reopen her heart to replace it.

The hope was that since she was having 2x to 3x the blood flow through that valve that once they put in the pulmonary artery the valve will still be leaky and narrow, but acceptably so.  If she can keep her native valve there a better chance they can push off the next surgery until she's large enough to have more options.  Her only option for a replacement now is a donor valve (or homograph), but if her heart was larger she could use artificial valve, which won't wear out, but will require blood thinners.  She is already getting a homograph for the pulmonary artery.

UPDATE:  Our CICU nurse just visit us in person.  They were unable to repair her native valve, so she has a double homograph.  This may mean that she will need surgery in the next year, as opposed to two or three years (which would be due to her outgrowing her pulmonary artery).