Blood Donation and Update

For those of you interested in donating blood for Travis' Glenn Surgery.....

If you are O+ or O-: You can donate whole blood anytime after May 5th. You will need to make an appointment at your local bank by calling 1-877-659-2001. You will need to have Travis' name and birthday: Travis DiCarlo, 10/23/09. Please do it as close to the 5th as you can as the surgery MAY get moved up!!!! Please let me know once you've set up an appointment so I know if he has enough people.

If you are any other blood type: Travis needs plasma BUT he will get all he needs from one person and Roger will be donating this to him. So, sorry but we can not use your blood for this surgery. BUT...there are other kids that could......go donate anyway!!!!!!

Thanks everyone!

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Now a quick update:

Roger and I have been worrying a little bit about how far out Travis' surgery is. Initially we were told that the Glenn surgery would take place when they are 5-6 months old. Travis isn't scheduled for his until he is 7 months old. The scary thing is that the shunt that they put in during the first surgery begins to "wear out" as he gets older/larger. We knew there would come a time when his oxygen saturations would begin to drop a bit and his weight would level out...we just weren't sure it would start happening a month out from surgery. To us...that is scary!

Over the last few days some concerning things have been happening: Travis' appetite has dropped, his oxygen saturation levels are lower than normal, he is sleeping more, and his resting heart rate has been dropping and setting of his heart monitor alarm. We decided to bring up these concerns with his doctors. We took him to his pediatrician and he did an EKG and took an XRay. Both of those looked good. The physical exam of Travis also went well. So, we were sent home somewhat reassured...but we were anxious to see what his cardiologist said. Dr. Levy (his cardiologist) ordered a 24 hour test that will record his heart rhythm to make sure he is not having any abnormalities. That will take place tomorrow through Friday. It is basically a different monitor that he will have to wear for 24 hours. Not really a big deal at all. Dr. Levy also contact Dr. Lamberti's office (the surgeon) to see about moving up the surgery. I am happy about that as I told him that my fear is that we wait to long and it turns into an emergency surgery. So, we should have some news soon on both the rhythm test and the surgery date.....

As you can imagine all this is really stressing us out. It is so scary not knowing what is going on with our little guy. The signs of trouble they want us to watch for, loss of appetite and sleep issues, are all things that happen with "normal" babies too. It is also very difficult for us to determine what is normal for a baby his age because he is our first child. I think our anxiety level will continue to rise until we get through this next surgery and over this huge hurtle.

Please pray for Travis' heart/body to remain strong until his surgery!!! Thank you.