The heart of the matter....

We've been home for 2 weeks.  Wow!  The first week is really a blur... we were incredibly exhausted, suffering from jet lag and lack of sleep.  We unpacked, did some laundry, and Shawna had her first US medical exam.  That was the extent of our week.  That was about all we could handle.  Jet lag really, really sucks!!  Shawna also struggled to adjust to the time change, but adjusted beautifully to the 4 other rug-rats in the house.  Four?  Yes. Four. Seth. Sara. Max the dog. And, Mr. Oliver... our very large, 20 # cat.  :-)     As for the rest of our news.. I'll just jump right to the end.  Shawna is scheduled for open-heart surgery on Tuesday Oct 6th at the crack of dawn.  While we were prepared for this possibility, there were many surprises at our cardiology appointment last week. We knew that she had a VSD (ventricle septal defect).  Sometimes they close on there own.  Sometimes they don't.  Shawna's VSD is still pretty big, so she needs surgery to repair the hole. She also has an ASD and pulmonary valve stenosis. The ASD is a small defect between her atria (and the same type of heart defect that I have.. well, I had mine repaired last year).  And, the valve stenosis will also be repaired in her surgery.     The biggest surprise?  Shawna has dextracardia.  Her heart (and all of her organs) are transposed.  Her heart is on the right side of her body, not the left.  While the cardiologist has assured us that her surgery is not complicated by this, I am still a wee bit irritated that such an obvious anatomical difference wasn't disclosed in her medical report.  I mean seriously... someone in China had to know, right?  Grrrr.... Ok- I'll move on.   So, here's the rest of the scoop:  because of her dextracardia, her pre-op clearances took on a whole new meaning.  We've had doctor appointments EVERY DAY!  No joke.  Ultrasounds.  MRIs.  You name it.  We've had it (or will have it soon).  She's been a real trooper.  I'm just happy that we are able to give her this opportunity.  She would've never had surgery in China... they barely have the funds to provide adequate food. let alone cardiac surgery.  So, stay tuned.  The next 11 days will be crazy.  More doctors appointments.  Sara's birthday.  And, a host of other obligations. We meet with the international adoption physicians tomorrow.  I'll be interested to hear their findings... :-)