Wednesday, September 9, 2009

One Week Update

Jack has been home from the hospital for almost a week and is doing so well! He is eating better, sleeping fine, and taking his medicine like a champ. We are still probably using a little too much Sunkist to make it palatable, but whatever it takes. He is only taking regular ibuprofen for pain and seems to be comfortable. My mom is here until next Wednesday, so he's having a lot of fun playing with his Tutu from morning until night.

We went in for his first post-operative cardiology appointment yesterday, and it went fairly well. He was very cooperative with all the things they needed to do. He still has a small amount of fluid on his left lung, so we aren't adjusting the fluid restrictions or medications at this point. We will go back for another chest x-ray on Monday to re-evaluate this. He also had his sutures removed (which wasn't much fun), but now he is allowed to get his incision wet, making bath-time easier for everyone.

Having Jack home has been great, but there are definitely some challenges involved. He has to be isolated from other kids for six weeks. He also isn't allowed to do anything where he could fall or get bumped, like playing on the playground or riding his tricycle. So we're pretty much staying at home, other than doctor's appointments. Luckily, my mom has been here to entertain and divert him and Elijah, but after next week I'll have to start getting more creative. She and I have been able to get a lot accomplished in the boys' new room and Avery's nursery, moving furniture and toys and clothes from one room to the other. It's pretty much all functional, even if not totally decorated. Mom and I even got to spend most of Monday shopping while Josh stayed home with the boys - a nice treat. Buying baby girl clothes is way too much fun.





Thursday, September 3, 2009

Heading Home

Jack is on his way out of the hospital! I had an OB appointment this morning, so I hadn't even made it up there yet when I got the call from Josh that he has been discharged. The chest x-ray looked good, but we will be going back from weekly checkups for a while. They just want to make sure that his fluid levels are being controlled effectively. So now my mom and I are waiting impatiently to see him. We have a sign on the door, streamers and balloons all around, and even a cookie cake that says "Welcome Home Jack!" I'm sure that he will be so glad to be home, just to be back in his normal life with all his toys and snacks and bed.

Thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers. We will still be posting updates, but probably not quite as frequently -- there just won't be as much going on. But I will try to let you know how his days are going and how he's adjusting to life after surgery. We love you guys.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

One More Night...Hopefully

Jack did really well last night and took all his meds this morning. We woke up and went to get our echo and x-rays. Jack was rolling in style with his own personal wheelchair driver as we hit the buttons to travel on the elevator and open the large doors.

The results of the images were that his right lung is still retaining some fluid. They would like him to stay another night to judge what needs to be done next. If tomorrow's x-rays are favorable, then we will be allowed to go home. So for now we are practicing patience and relying on Gods perfect timing and not our own.

Jack is all over the place, traveling in the little tikes police car, walking through the halls showing off his super why costume, climbing in his bed and tackling daddy. Papa brought him a donut to eat this morning which was really special. Right now he's busy in the playroom with his Tutu.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Some Good Steps

The best news is that Jack got his chest tubes pulled today. This was the major thing that we were waiting on to get to go home. The big test will be tomorrow morning's chest x-ray and echocardiogram. But if both of those tests show that he's not accumulating fluid, then we should get to go home tomorrow! So we're crossing our fingers that tomorrow night Jack will get to sleep in his own bed again.

He did very well with getting his tubes taken out, though I'm sure it was uncomfortable. They gave him a dose of Versed, which is the same thing they gave him before he went back to the operating room. It basically makes them sort of drunk and loopy - removing anxiety, inhibitions, and balance all at once. It's a pretty good medicine though, because it also means that they don't usually remember what happened to them either. He was pretty grouchy for a few hours, but he seemed to be in a really good mood again once it wore off. The best part of getting his chest tubes removed was that he was allowed to leave the floor and check out some other parts of the hospital. They have a really cool interactive model train exhibit in one of the other buildings, so we all walked over there before Elijah left. They both seemed to really enjoy watching all the different parts move, including a tiny carnival complete with ferris wheel, roller coaster, and bumper cars. But Jack's favorite part may have been just getting to push the buttons on the elevator... always a hit.

Today would have been Jack and Elijah's first day of preschool if we weren't in the hospital. It was fun to see pictures of several of his buddies going, and I was a little sad that he had to miss it. But luckily he won't know any difference when he gets to start in a month or so. But I was glad to hear that everyone had such a good day at PeeWee School.