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Little Guy Updates
Little guy was extubated on Friday. He is doing remarkably well. Everyone says his lungs are the best they have ever seen after a unifocalization.
Every single one of our heart children from China have required unbelievable amounts of sedation to keep them comfortable and knocked out while on the ventilator. I don’t know why this is, but it’s hard to watch while the doctors try to find the perfect number to keep them under and comfortable. Every time we go in we comment on this fact as the doctors keep going up on the narcotics. At one point, the doctor stopped and said, “I can’t believe this. I’m pretty sure this amount would keep three adults asleep.” I don’t know if that is true or not, but it is still a large amount.
Because it takes so much to keep them sedated and comfortable, it takes them even longer to fully wake up. Eli was still pretty out of it all day Friday but Saturday morning when I walked in the room, he was with it enough to look right at me. It was so good to see my boy and hear him whisper mama, but it broke my heart when he said, “mama up”. There were still too many tubes to be able to hold him.
By the end of the day he was doing much better. He even smiled a couple of times.
Isn’t it amazing what they can do? Here is a 3-D animation of the procedure.
Dr. Hanley took Eli’s collaterals, spliced them open and then built him pulmonary arteries. Absolutely mind blowing and amazing!!!!! He then put a conduit in Eli’s heart and added a valve. And then to top things off he stood for three hours and tried to get rid of all the small little tiny vessels that Eli’s lungs were growing while they were trying to get some oxygen. They had to get rid of those vessels and make sure they weren’t still bleeding. It’s a time consuming job.
How do you thank someone for that? I look at Eli and can’t believe it. In China he was deemed inoperable, terminal and here he has a second chance at life.
He spent his weekend eating popsicles, watching Veggietales, and…
recuperating.
Saturday night the nurse tried to convince me to go get some sleep. Unlike most of the other hospitals we have stayed in, there are no sleeping areas in the ICU rooms here. I was okay sleeping when he was stable and completely out, but not when he could wake up and need me. We worked really hard to earn Elijah’s trust during his first year home. The last thing I wanted to do was have him wake up afraid and not be able to find me.
She told me that she could comfort him all I had to do was tell her what makes him comfortable. A stuffed animal? A blanket? A special song? Nope…..
It would be just too hard to leave my hand there. When Eli is afraid at night, which doesn’t happen very often anymore, all he does is cry out “mama” and reach for my hand. All he needs to know is that I am there. There is no way in the world that I wasn’t going to be there when he needed me the most.
Sunday afternoon we were moved to a private room on the general floor. He is down to one i.v., three chest tubes and a smidge of oxygen. He is doing amazingly well. We have been told this fact over and over again. He is still a little sad and his stomach hurts but all in all he is doing well.
Praising God for the chance that was given to our little guy. Blessings beyond measure for sure! Thank you again for all the prayers.
