COOPER UPDATE

Today we visited the cardiologist....love the cardiologist. Cooper is now 8lbs 2oz and he was very pleased with this. He said that Cooper's color was also very good. We found out that Cooper's next surgery is dependent upon his oxygen saturation level. He is currently at 83 which is low for a "normal" person but very acceptable for someone with Cooper's condition. At the point that his level drops to the low 70's, which it will do eventually, it will be time for another surgery. They have decided to use a donor valve to repair Cooper's heart. A donor valve will not grow as Cooper grows. Therefore, at the next surgery they will put in the biggest valve that his body can handle. When he outgrows that, they will replace it. They predict that after this next surgery, which will probably be when he is 6-12 months, he will have another surgery around 5 years of age and then he will have to have yet another when he is in his teens. Hopefully, they will be able to put a big enough valve in at his last surgery to sustain his growth from there on out. The times of surgery are all just guesses as it will depend greatly on his growth. At each time there will actually be two surgeries The first is the cardiac catheter which allows them to get a really good look inside at the heart and then the actual open heart surgery. As scary as this all sounds, I am just so thankful that they can do it. I know each surgery will tear Terry and I apart inside but we are just so astonished at what they can do. As we learn more and more about how the heart works and about Cooper's defects, I believe more and more that we are so lucky that he is here with us and doing so well. Every time he smiles at me I almost cry and thank God for letting me see that smile. We will see the cardiologist again in a month and now that I know what the indicator for surgery is, I will be praying that his oxygen saturation stays in the 80's!