Well, David’s chest did not get closed up today. His surgeon did say it’s only open a tiny bit (1.5-2cm) and has a chance it could heal on its own. They will reassess it next Monday. In the meantime they replaced his wound vac, and removed his chest drains. Before the procedure, they were able to check his pacer and it worked for them, so they left his pacer wires in place and resutured it to ensure it doesn’t move.
David did not tolerate being awake as well today, but still did a good job with it. He probably had a few more episodes of being upset, but overall he was still not unhappy being awake. Part of the displeasure is slowly weaning off drips; and it’s a balance of getting him off the drips and making sure he’s comfortable.
David did fairly well his his pressure support trials as well today. They decided to let him stay on the trials for as long as he would tolerate them, rather than coming off right at the 60 minute mark. Well, that was the goal. The first one, he lasted just over an hour. The second one, he had to come off it because the surgeon and his team were going to check out David’s chest.
Also this morning, the nurse practitioner from David’s single ventricle team stopped by. She said she had been out for a while, and this was her first time seeing him post-surgery. I think we all thought he would be home or close to it at this point, and back visiting them in clinic. They’ll have to wait a while longer before he’s back in clinic. Based on the last time she saw him, he is super puffy. It was kind of funny because those who last saw him on Friday were in the room examining him too and were discussing how good he looked with some fluid loss while she’s thinking he has retained so much.
Tomorrow, David will go down to imaging radiology to get a PICC line placed. This will replace one of his RA (right atrial) lines. They are also going to push him a little harder with his pressure support trials and coming off the drips. Well, they think they are until David reminds them who is in charge again.
We continue to pray for you all at church. So much love for you all.🙏
It sounds like it was a very busy day. David, I hope you have a great sleep filled with wonderful dreams🙏🏻 Thanking God for your progress…. continued Blessings to you, your Mommy & Daddy, and Eli and Anna AND your entire health care team🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Praying for you all, his family and his medical team. David sounds like he’s doing a balancing act these days, getting weaned off some things, getting used to others, getting ready for the chest closure. So glad he is liking some things about being awake, now that he’s more aware of all the activity around him (and we do hear tell that he very much likes to make that activity happen … maybe whenever he decides it’s been too dull and quiet?). Glad you could get outside with the older kids on this springy day. Eli and Anna never seem bored!
May God continue to hold you all in his care 💕
Thank you for sharing your story. Prayers for David and all of you on this beautiful day and every day.🥰
I marvel at your courage and perseverance in this marathon journey with David because I have been the ECMO specialist in a NICU in my former career. I keep asking the Lord to bless David and your whole family. I pray he will keep making progress day by day. Thank you for letting us accompany you in the journey via caringbridge. Chuck Baldrige