Today was not the 'better day' that we had hoped for. Josh had another tough day. His chest tubes are still draining. His x-ray shows more fluid, so they will remain in place for a few more days. Misery. The x-ray also showed a partially collapsed lung. And he's very low on potassium which presents another problem; his only line that was safe to administer potassium, as well as draw blood, was pulled today. It was his Fontan line & now it's out. Because it was pulled today, they had to put in another IV. Joshua is very hard to place a decent IV, so when his nurses hoped to get an IV placed that would also draw blood, I was really nervous.
After the Dr came in and pulled his Fontan line, an IV nurse came in and worked a miracle. She popped an IV in Joshua's arm in one try (no digging either) & headed out the door. She was in & out in minutes, she's my hero!
Unfortunately, Joshua's good luck ended there. He had 2 serious vomiting episodes that were so painful & taxing. During that time, Joshua's heart rhythm got all nutty. They are thinking it may be due to his electrolytes being out of whack. So they are working on leveling that out.
He's been sleeping ever since the last vomit, so Jon & I have taken turns holding him. Hopefully tonight he'll get some much needed sleep, which may mean I get some sleep too.
The highlight of our day was dinner...a fellow heart mom, Jen (Magnus' mom)brought us a ton of delicious food! It seriously made our day.
Jon's parents also visited, but unfortunately their timing wasn't optimal for visiting due to the craziness of our day. But still nice of them to make the trip & I know they were just happy to see Josh. :)
Again, we are hoping that tomorrow will be our day & things will go great.
11 comments:
Thanks for posting a photo! It's great that we are able to "see" him too :) Glad to see he's getting some sleep after such a crazy day (so sad) & praying that tomorrow is much much MUCH better.
Poor buddy. Owen also had tons of issues with potassium and the painful vomiting. It was just awful. The oral potassium was so harsh on his tummy he crunched in pain and his sats dropped to 40. We could only do iv potassium. My heart aches when I read of your day. Tomorrow will be better. I know the fontan is notorious for chest tube drainage....I am dreading that too.
Praying for you all!
I'm glad the food was a help, and I just wish I could do something to make poor Josh feel better! I hope you guys have a peaceful night and that those chest tubes come out sooner rather than later. It was great to see your little cutie in person (and I forgot to tell you that he looks great for being just 4 days post-op), but I look forward to seeing him in a more animated state at some point in the future!
Poor little guy. :( It always breaks my heart to hear these little kids suffering. Those darn chest tubes...it's always such happier days without those! I hope his days get better soon (and yours too).
Hang in there! We love you guys!
Hang in there, you are all in our prayers!
Oh Joshie...I am sorry that recovery is so tough. We are praying for you guys. He looks so peaceful in this picture. I hope tomorrow is a new (issue free) day!
I'm sorry to hear today was a rough day. :( Praying that each day from here out gets a little better than the last. ((hugs))
Oh dear. I do hope that today will be a little better and that you can figure out the electrolytes and potassium. I pray that today is a day of drainage and sleep for everyone!
I'm sorry you all had such a rough day. You remain in our prayers.
So sorry to hear about the setback. I hope that the night goes well and tomorrow is what you hope it will be!
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