Post Op - Day 3

Sorry for the graphic nature of the picture for those who may find it a little "too much"! :) It is actually SO much better then he has been...has a lot less hooked up to him then he used to. Today was another great day of shedding some equipment. He got a couple IVs taken out and had his central line taken out. With that, I could hold him again!! We still had a lot of oxygen equipment and IVs to work around, but we did it. He has spent so much time just laying in a bed, that each moment we can hold him is a gift. We certainly know that when he finally gets home he is probably never going to be put down. Too many grandparents, aunts, etc. who have been waiting for their turn!!

As I was leaving the hospital this afternoon, the doctor was making his rounds with the residents. They increased his feeds a little bit (still by NG tube) and decreased his oxygen flow from 6 liters down to 3! I was certainly nervous about that decrease and wondered how in the world he would do. He had been fine all afternoon when I was there on the 6 liters, oxygen saturation numbers staying right in the perfect range. I called a couple hours later, before the day nurse left to see how he was doing and she said that he was doing well and that his oxygen was OFF! ?!?! WHAT?!?! Apparently, for some reason, his oxygen saturation number was on the high side (at 99), so they turned his oxygen flow off. He was not receiving any extra oxygen through his nasal tube, just air flow. Since he was high sat-ing near 100 they turned it off. They were a little worried it could be too much blood in his lungs or a clot forming in his new shunt, etc. but all of those turned out to be fine. So we wonder what made it jump so high all of a sudden, but here's hoping it comes down into his normal limits (his ideal oxygen saturation number is in the 80s to lower 90s) and stays there!! Certainly a shock how quickly it came down and OFF all in the same afternoon.

Please continue to pray for our little trooper! He never ceases to amaze us and the prayers are certainly working! Here's hoping his oxygen levels find a great common ground and stay there, esp. as they increase the amount of his feedings and it puts more strain on his system. We always hit a wall before surgery when it came to the increased amount of his feedings - it obviously put way too much strain on his already taxed heart/system. So it is certainly nerve racking to be approaching that cross road in this journey again. Thank you so much for your prayers in his recovery - here's hoping we are on our way to bringing him home!

Joanna