Jack's story: Part 2 -- Dr Ferry

Our main thing that we keep telling ourselves and others is that at least they tried. They were "fiddling" with the membrane & different devices for over an hour, so we know they really tried their hardest. Dr Ferry, before taking Jack in, told C (my husband) that there was about an 80% chance that they would be successful, but he wouldn't try to fix things if it would cause more harm than good. When Dr Ferry came out that last time, he said that the 80% chance steadily went down and down the more they fiddled, and they may have made things a bit worse than they were in the beginning. So, instead of pushing the envelope and using the biggest plugs they had, he pretty much called it quits. And I'm very grateful for that--that he would put his patient's wellness and overall health before his own want for a successful catheterization.

We do have excellent doctors. Dr Ferry is the guy parents across the globe come to because other doctors where they live say there's nothing they can do for their child's heart. We read numerous stories of parents who were glad they went to Dr Ferry, and that he was the only doctor out of many who said, "Let's give it a try!" or "Oh, I can do that." He's such a nice guy and he really cares about all of his patients. So, understandably, we were both very comfortable having him as Jack's doctor, and we knew he'd try his hardest without trying to push things too far. He's a very genuine man. It seems like he's one of the few surgeons left who likes his job for what he does for people and not necessarily for the money.

Anyway, we aren't happy how things turned out, and it's very hard to get through the day without crying. But, we're hanging in there and just trying to get our minds on to the next step. We're keeping a closer eye on Jack, being as his hole is much larger. I don't know if a lot of his behavior is because he's still getting over the effects of anesthesia, or because of the surgery itself. But we're taking notes, and going to let his cardiologist know in a week how he's been doing.