Heart Surgery Updates 2026
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This week Caden is having another (and hopefully his last!) open heart surgery at the Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. It feels like it’s taken forever to get here, and I also can’t believe that is already time. I know he’s ready for it to be behind him, and I am ready for him to be feeling better. He’s going to be a new young man!
Heart Surgery Updates 2026
Thursday, April 16th –
8:50am – They took him back about 15 minutes ago and we are in the waiting room. We should have our first update in ~1 hour.
9:45am – The IVs and lines are all in. He went to sleep great. Next update in about half an hour.
10:30am – He is on bypass. They will start the incision soon. They expect quite a bit of scar tissue which will take a while to get through.
11:20am – They are working through the scar tissue and will soon open his chest.
12:20pm – They have made it inside the sternum. Currently working to get through/remove the scar tissue that is between the breastbone and his heart.
1:10pm – They have made it to his heart and the surgeon is starting to work on the actual repair. Finally!
2:00pm – They are working on the Aorta. Removing some of the bulk of it since it is larger than it needs to be.
3:15pm – They are still working on the Aorta side (the first half of the surgery). They have the valve in place and are reattaching the coronary arteries, then will move on to the other side of the heart to start that portion.
4:15pm – Almost finished with the Aorta side.
5:20pm – They have finished the Aorta side (woohoo!) and are moving to the Pulmonary side to replace the conduit there.
6:20pm – They have finished swapping out the conduit! They are weaning him off the bypass machine and will do an echocardiogram (going through the esophagus as well as directly on the surface of his heart) to see if everything looks good. After that, they’ll watch to see how much he is leaking/bleeding to see if they need to make any changes or to cauterize any spots. Another update in ~30 min.
6:55pm – His heart function looks great but he’s bleeding enough that they put him back on bypass to determine how to slow the bleeding.
8:10pm – They have taken him off the bypass machine twice but he’s still bleeding quite a bit. They just put him back on bypass to see if there’s something causing the excessive bleeding or if there is an issue with the repair.
8:55pm – He is still on the bypass machine. They are going back over all of the sutures they placed and checking for possible spots of leakage. Doubling down. When they finish that, they’ll try to take him back off the bypass machine and see how the bleeding is then. Update in another hour.
9:40pm – They are finished with the “fixing” and doing another echocardiogram. Updates soon.
10:30pm – They are slowly letting his heart take back over function. He seems to be tolerating it better than earlier. Hopefully the fixes have worked. He’s needed A LOT of extra blood products today and they are getting more. Update in another 45 min to an hour.
11:25 – He is doing better! They are attempting to close his chest. Should take about 45 minutes to close him up, and another half hour after that for the surgeon to come talk to us. I will continue to update.
12:00am – His chest is closed! A little while longer for the surgeon to come talk to us and another hour after that before we can see him in the ICU.
1:00 am – Just met with the surgeon and the anesthesiologist. He’s done! Caden is getting settled in the ICU, will be able to go back to his room in about 45 minutes. I’m staying the night and will update in the morning.
When we met with the surgeon I gave him the Anatomical Heart I made him. He loved it! Here’s the free pattern. 
Friday, April 17th –
9:45am – Caden is doing great this morning! He still has the breathing tube in and they are going to try to take that out sometime today. He’s waking up a bit, opening his eyes, trying to talk, and he’s not happy. When there are more updates I’ll let you know! Thank you again for the continued prayers.
May 5th – Hello again! Caden was released from the hospital on Thursday, April 30th, exactly two weeks after his surgery. He’s still recovering and his activity level is improving.
The doctors were estimating a much longer stay in the hospital because his numbers just were not improving very quickly. They gave him the option that in order to go home he would give himself an injection form of medication (instead of the continuous IV drip that necessitated the prolonged stay in the hospital) and he chose that option.
He’s had to get labs drawn every other day since we got home, but the great news is that today is the first day that he has not had to take the shot! His pill form of the blood thinner is right on track and we’ll continue to monitor this with frequent labs, and hopefully an at-home machine that can test it for him quickly and easily going forward.
We have a checkup with cardiology in Wichita on May 6th (tomorrow, after labs) and hopefully he’ll be able to ditch a couple of his other post-surgery medications.
Caden says he is still sore and I imagine that he is! I will continue to share updates, albeit not as often, as time goes along. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, kind words, and deeds!
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He will be in the hospital for a total of ~3 weeks. He will have various family members coming up to visit and I’ll be there, along with my mom, the majority of the time. During the stay I’ll run home for a reset, refresh on projects, and to see my dogs and my boyfriend. Of course I will be updating you all along the way.
Here’s the schedule that we know:
Tuesday, April 14th – Head to Kansas City to get settled.
Wednesday, April 15th – Various pre-op tests.
Thursday, April 16th – Arrive 6-7 am, surgery expected to last most of the day.
He will likely spend 4-5 days in the ICU, then he will be moved up to the cardiac floor with all of the other heart kiddos. They expect him to be there for an additional ~2 weeks to get dialed in on the dosage of medicine his body requires with his new heart valve. So we’re looking at coming home sometime in the first half of May. I’ll be sure to keep you updated!
During the actual surgery on Thursday we will get updates randomly, usually every ~1-2 hours. I will come back and update this post on the blog when I am updated. If you want to check in on Thursday that is the best way to make sure you have the most up-to-date information. I will be sharing updates on social media as well. I plan on taking plenty of video to document and I’ll do my best to share them on the Heart Hook Home Facebook page, Instagram page, YouTube Shorts, and on TikTok. I’ve posted a few reels/videos already and the support has been amazing. Thank you all for your ongoing prayers and positive thoughts!
How you can help?
Send all of the prayers, positive thoughts, and good jujus you can to Caden, the surgeon, and hospital team. We appreciate each and every one of you and we are reading all of the comments and emails wishing us the best. Keep them coming!
Several people have asked how they can help financially during this time. As you can imagine these surgeries are ridiculously expensive, but I am not comfortable with a crowd funding campaign. That being said, I would love if you would visit the Heart Hook Home blog shop, Ravelry shop, and Etsy shops and grab some patterns. 🥰 The patterns will be emailed to you immediately. You could, instead, do your Amazon shopping through this link. I get a small kickback from your purchase and I can’t tell who is purchasing what. It all adds up, and I appreciate it and YOU more than you know!
If you’re new to this journey, I invite you to read more about Caden’s early days here, and the most recent update here that explains all about this particular surgery, what they are replacing/repairing, and other important details. Again, watch this post on Thursday for updates!
I’ll keep you updated as the weeks go along. Thank you!
How to Crochet a Heart Surgery Doll for Siblings
UPDATED Jan 2026: Cardiology Update December 2025
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