*FINALLY* -- An Update

Sorry, sorry, sorry. . . I was exhausted yesterday, and I had trouble getting an internet cable to get connected today.

The surgery went very well. No surprises, no problems with anesthesia, no problems coming off bypass. The VSD was patched. The valve obstruction (which was mainly at the level of the valve) was cleared, and the PV was patched open with a piece of pericardium. They did get started a little late b/c it took so long to get his lines in -- poor boy has marks all over his hands and wrists where they tried many times before they finally put everything in his feet. They took him back at 9 am, started surgery at 10:45, and he was out at 2:10. He was on bypass for about 1.5 hours.

We finally got to see him in CICU at 3:50. At first, everything looked great and visions of extubation danced in our heads. . . within an hour, his mean blood pressures had jumped between upper 80s and lower 30s because he was losing too much blood through the chest tubes. Kim describes it as a scene from ER - she and Mom were in the room when the BP bottomed out and they were told to leave. Both of them left blubbering, and went out to the waiting room for a full-on meltdown. I, however, have been pretty good about holding myself together. They gave him platelets and red blood cells, and the drainage slowed down very quickly. They had also ordered FFP, but did not have to use it because his BP stabilized and all of his gases have been good. Thank you O+ donor, you're our hero!!

Last night was kind of rough, b/c Brayden Boy wanted to extube himself!! At one point, they said "We don't know if we have anything that will knock this boy out." Sedation hasn't been very effective or long lasting! At about 12:30 am, he did succeed in ripping out his arterial line, and it took about an hour to get another one in. DH and I had no idea that we would be so physically involved -- it's like we had to wrestle with him all night! We've gotten pretty good at holding him down, protecting the lines, and untangling everything.

Today has gone pretty well. He was extubated at 8:05, and he has shown no signs of respiratory problems. There was one emergency pain episode, where Brayden thrashed around like a shark out of water, but a quick hit of morphine settled him down pretty quickly. His sats are a little low today (100 all day yesterday, ranging between 85-95 today). BP has been pretty steady all day. He just got his NG Tube out about an hour ago and drank some Pedialyte. He has been resting quietly (first time since we've been here) since then. He can try some soy milk when he wakes up again.

The care at the hospital has been super -- Brayden has a 1-on-1 nurse, and so far we've had some really nice nurses. They told us today that Brayden (of course) is the talk of the floor, and that everyone is saying " you need to see the cute kid in 40". Hey -- I knew they were smart around here :)

Other people's blogs REALLY helped prepare me for how he looked after surgery, so I will be posting pics for the same reason. . . unfortunately, blogger is not letting me right now. I will try again later. He really does look amazing :)