I am happy to report that Thaddeus just took 90 ml of formula from a bottle just now. This is a good sign that he is recovering well. The catheter has been removed and we are working on weaning him off of everything else that we can. There is still much work for Thaddeus to do, but so far he is certainly doing his part. He had a nice quiet night and is resting nicely now.
36 B:
36C:
Well I didn't get to read my book or sleep, but I did get Fred Astaire Ginger Rodgers, and those dirty diapers I was looking for.
36C:
Thaddeus has had kind of a rough day. He has been out of sorts and rather uncomfortable today. The surgery, as I have mentioned, causes him to have extra blood pressure in his head now. This will give him something like a head ache for some time. (When I ask how long it will take him to adjust to this new pressure I get told anywhere from a week to months and months.) In addition he has had some painful gas issues. He has been consolable and is still eating, but he is certainly not himself. Now, in addition, his last temperature reading was over 101 degrees. This could mean a fever from an infection, but it could also just mean he is warm from working himself up over his other pain issues. They are trying to draw blood now to check his white blood cell count, but getting a needle in a 4 month old's vein is harder than it sounds, and it sounds pretty hard. (He called in reinforcements and they got it now.)
Thank you for all of the prayers, but if I may, I'll ask for a few more.
36D:
It's an infection.
White blood cell count is very elevated indicating an infection. They will probably put him on anti-biotics and I would assume keep him around for observation longer than we had thought.
36E:
Hey everybody,
Thaddeus is still feeling out of sorts today. I have been told that the higher white count is an indicator that there MAY be an infection; it doesn't guarantee it. So, obviously we would prefer he doesn't have one. Either way, he is still running a fever and definitely not as active as he was before. How much of that is surgery related vs fever related no one knows. We had a physical therapist visit and do some work with Thaddeus. He was not using a full range of motion, preferred not to move or be moved much, and frankly he looked worried. She worked on getting him to relax some of his muscles and move around some and that seemed to really help him feel a bit better. He is still eating, not as ravenously as he had been before, but apparently it is normal for babies to burn less calories after this surgery than they did before, since the surgery is designed to help them not to have to work so hard just to get blood around. He is also losing weight, but that also is not surprising since he had gone up 12 ounces in 6 days. We are assuming that a lot of that was fluid weight and he is getting back to normal. The hard part for us right now is trying to get a grasp on what kind of issues and uncomfortableness are normal with the surgery and what issues might be unusual and more of a concern. However, since "medicine is not an exact science" and "every baby is different" no one can really say.So, we will sit back and wait for the Lord to take care of it.
36F: Earlier today, I noticed that Thaddeus had a bump on his incision mark and some discoloration on the tape over it. A surgical person came and took a look at it. He said that it seemed to be filled with fluid. He also thought it felt like there was some separation of the sternum underneath the spot. As a result, tomorrow they are going to sedate him once again and cut into his incision. They will drain the fluid and test it for infection. They will also look inside to see how it looks. This could simply be a case of the sternum not being closed yet so fluid is collecting at that spot. This would mean they drain it and no big deal. It could also mean that there is a very serious infection there. The fluid may only be at the surface, or it may be collecting underneath and forcing its way through the sternum. This would mean that they would dig deeper and clean things out. If it is the infection they fear it might be, it is a very nasty one. It would involve a potential of four to six weeks of anti-biotics. Since the anti biotics they use will collapse a vein if it is put in a peripheral IV they will put a PIC line back in. (Instead of just using a little one on the back of the hand they have to put another line into a major artery.) This would also extend his stay. It is possible that he would get sent home on anti-biotics, it is also possible that he would be kept here the entire time. So in summary, we know he has a little bump on his incision that probably contains fluid. Other than that we don't really know much of anything yet.
Thank you for all of the prayers, but if I may, I'll ask for a few more.
It's an infection.
White blood cell count is very elevated indicating an infection. They will probably put him on anti-biotics and I would assume keep him around for observation longer than we had thought.
36E:
Hey everybody,
Thaddeus is still feeling out of sorts today. I have been told that the higher white count is an indicator that there MAY be an infection; it doesn't guarantee it. So, obviously we would prefer he doesn't have one. Either way, he is still running a fever and definitely not as active as he was before. How much of that is surgery related vs fever related no one knows. We had a physical therapist visit and do some work with Thaddeus. He was not using a full range of motion, preferred not to move or be moved much, and frankly he looked worried. She worked on getting him to relax some of his muscles and move around some and that seemed to really help him feel a bit better. He is still eating, not as ravenously as he had been before, but apparently it is normal for babies to burn less calories after this surgery than they did before, since the surgery is designed to help them not to have to work so hard just to get blood around. He is also losing weight, but that also is not surprising since he had gone up 12 ounces in 6 days. We are assuming that a lot of that was fluid weight and he is getting back to normal. The hard part for us right now is trying to get a grasp on what kind of issues and uncomfortableness are normal with the surgery and what issues might be unusual and more of a concern. However, since "medicine is not an exact science" and "every baby is different" no one can really say.So, we will sit back and wait for the Lord to take care of it.
36F: Earlier today, I noticed that Thaddeus had a bump on his incision mark and some discoloration on the tape over it. A surgical person came and took a look at it. He said that it seemed to be filled with fluid. He also thought it felt like there was some separation of the sternum underneath the spot. As a result, tomorrow they are going to sedate him once again and cut into his incision. They will drain the fluid and test it for infection. They will also look inside to see how it looks. This could simply be a case of the sternum not being closed yet so fluid is collecting at that spot. This would mean they drain it and no big deal. It could also mean that there is a very serious infection there. The fluid may only be at the surface, or it may be collecting underneath and forcing its way through the sternum. This would mean that they would dig deeper and clean things out. If it is the infection they fear it might be, it is a very nasty one. It would involve a potential of four to six weeks of anti-biotics. Since the anti biotics they use will collapse a vein if it is put in a peripheral IV they will put a PIC line back in. (Instead of just using a little one on the back of the hand they have to put another line into a major artery.) This would also extend his stay. It is possible that he would get sent home on anti-biotics, it is also possible that he would be kept here the entire time. So in summary, we know he has a little bump on his incision that probably contains fluid. Other than that we don't really know much of anything yet.
Thaddeus is still feeling out of sorts today. I have been told that the higher white count is an indicator that there MAY be an infection; it doesn't guarantee it. So, obviously we would prefer he doesn't have one. Either way, he is still running a fever and definitely not as active as he was before. How much of that is surgery related vs fever related no one knows. We had a physical therapist visit and do some work with Thaddeus. He was not using a full range of motion, preferred not to move or be moved much, and frankly he looked worried. She worked on getting him to relax some of his muscles and move around some and that seemed to really help him feel a bit better. He is still eating, not as ravenously as he had been before, but apparently it is normal for babies to burn less calories after this surgery than they did before, since the surgery is designed to help them not to have to work so hard just to get blood around. He is also losing weight, but that also is not surprising since he had gone up 12 ounces in 6 days. We are assuming that a lot of that was fluid weight and he is getting back to normal. The hard part for us right now is trying to get a grasp on what kind of issues and uncomfortableness are normal with the surgery and what issues might be unusual and more of a concern. However, since "medicine is not an exact science" and "every baby is different" no one can really say.So, we will sit back and wait for the Lord to take care of it.
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