MentalMother, in a bit of role reversal, posted a very lengthy and detailed description of all this, so to continue the reversal, I'm going to post a brief note.
Ella is now scheduled for a procedure to correct her PDA. As heart procedures go, this is a relatively minor one, and overall is similar to the way they put in stents for heart disease, but this is closing an artery near the heart rather than opening one.
The whole thing will take place as a non-surgical cardiac catheterization type of procedure on September 16th. She will be under general anesthesia for this (good luck getting a 3 year old to lay still on a table for 3 hours, much less while poking around the heart!). During the procedure they will perform some detailed x-rays with contrast enhancers, and decide what size or type of device to place in her heart to close the ductus. If the ductus is small enough, they will use an embolyzation coil to close it, in which case she will likely go home late the same day as an outpatient. If it is larger they will use an Amplatzer duct occluder, in which case she will say overnight for observation. (note: neat videos on the Amplatzer).
Either way she should be back in action after a couple of days.
Overall, it's good news for us that we can use the catheter procedure, as this eliminates the potential need for conventional heart surgery.
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