This was a big day: the day to meet the renowned heart surgeon who would be working on our son.  We’d heard a lot about Dr. Peeler, so I was looking forward to meeting him.  We both took time off work to be there at like 8am on a Friday. Dr. Peeler was very straightforward…no flash, just facts.  He talked about HLHS and then spoke about the first surgery that Nolan would be having, which is called the Norwood Procedure.  Up until 30 years or so ago, there was no treatment for babies with HLHS.  Zero.  Survival rate?  Zero.  So basically this procedure was devised which would re-route some of the plumbing and make the heart function ok for a second surgery at about 6 months old (more on that way later).  Interesting.  And scary.  I mean, this is relatively new stuff.

The good news is he told us that he’s done many of these surgeries and has a much higher success rate than the national average.  That was really REALLY good to hear.

Whew.  I went home and did my homework and found out that Dr. Peeler is good at this.  Really good.  Like, he’s the Babe Ruth of HLHS surgeons.  Yeah, and he’d be working on our son.  That felt really freakin’ good.  And you know what?  It’s good that he’s about his business…I want someone that can focus on my boy and do a great job at it…and he was just the one to do it.  So Nolan’s life was practically in his hands…crazy, right?  But Dr. Peeler is 50 kinds of awesome…and in future posts you’ll see why.  Needless to say, I’m proud to have Dr. Peeler on Team Nolan!  You’re the man Dr. P!