Today is Ajays birthday! We celebrated with a few room decorations, cake and lots of gifts from friends here at the hospital :-) today Ajay turned 3 yrs old. He had a good day, visiting briefly with his 4 brothers enjoying a short visit with lots of hugs and "high fives". Ajay was awake most of the morning, so by lunch, he was ready for a nap and wasn't that interested in presents or games. We had the doctor write an actual order for a tiny taste of frosting, barely a micrograms worth, just to say we had cake! Although it was his first birthday with his new family, we tried to celebrate as best we could. He had a peaceful day and did well on lower vent settings.
Last night was a bit scarier, as we were called at 2am for a small procedure. Ajays stats dropped dramatically for no apparent reason. After bagging him, and several people attempting to bring up his heart rate,BP and O2, they ordered a chest xray stat. They found he had air trapped in the lung cavity that had to be released. (Pneumothorax) The fellow and cardiac surgeon on call warned that they would need to release this air immediately with a very large needle, injecting him between the rib cage to extract the air. The xray also showed the the new chest tube inserted while performing the diaphragm surgery, was slightly shifted anteriorly. The surgeon quickly pulled back slightly on the tube, and a rush of air came pouring from the chest tube. They (after calling us at 2 am) thought that they would not need to insert a needle after all. The nurse caring for Ajay positioned him on his side and more air released....Ajay rested the entire time, although looking quite blue and peeked, he rested quietly the rest of the night.
Just another Ajay miracle.....
Plan for tomorrow? Wean from vent as tolerated, and hope to extubate in day or two :-) All blood gases and other "sprints" off vent have been tolerated with ease. The doctors are really taking Ajay in stride and doing what HE wants and tolerates.
(In case anyone needs clarification, sprints are when the vent is only supporting his breathes, and Ajay is totally responsible for inhaling and exhaling but has the vent as back up.)
Happy Birthday sweet Ajay! I love that you got a taste of icing...even if it was a microgram. Praying that these next couple of days will bring big strides in healing and recovery with NO MORE complications, please Jesus!
ReplyDeleteWe fix our eyes on what is unseen, not on what is seen. What is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal!
Next year I bet you're going to have one enormous birthday party, big boy!
We won't stop praying for you here in AL, buddy.