All go for Monday 21st

Rowie has been admitted into the hospital today, surgery is scheduled for "sometime mid-afternoon" tomorrow.

We were... subdued this afternoon, as you might expect. Once Rowie was checked in and had the hospital procedures explained to her, the surgeon came in and went through the details. At this stage the transplant valve may likely be from a cow - this is because a) a cow's valve works in a very similar way to that of a human heart valve and b) a cows valve lends itself to simpler surgery down the track - apparently when this one starts to deteriorate (and it will - as would any donor valve, even human) there's a possibility that a new valve can be inserted through a simple procedure wherein a second valve is "delivered" via the aortic artery, skipping the need for more invasive surgery.

Rowie is holding up well, all things considered. I think though that the situation becomes stark when the surgeon begins talking about a life-span of "maximum" 10 years if she doesn't have the surgery - that certainly puts things in perspective. Oscar is bearing up well, although his behaviour is up and down - again, very understandable.

Rowie's parents are here now and I can only imagine what's going through their minds, after all they've been through this once before and back then this type of surgery was extremely radical.

Anyway, we'll be off to the hospital tomorrow morning to provide support and... well, whatever we can do. It's the start of a long and painful journey for Rowie I'll do what I can to help her through it.