I think today has given me a new meaning for a long day! Weylin and I have been up since 4 am, and I don’t think either one of us got very much sleep last night! I am just going to give the nitty gritty so that we can head to bed soon!
Ethan did very well through the surgery. Like I said before, the surgery went just as the surgeon had hoped. There was a possibility that he would need some medication to keep his blood pressure up, but so far he hasn’t needed any! That is great news! He also got some blood to help boost his recovery, but it looks like there is a possibility he may need more. His last blood draw showed that his levels may be dropping a little bit. That could also be from all of the IV fluids he got throughout surgery. When we left tonight, there was no plan for sure. Ethan has one incision down the middle of his chest and a chest tube just below his incision. He has all kinds of wires and IV lines—an arterial line they are using to monitor his blood pressure, a couple IVs in his feet, and one in his chest just below his collar bone. He also has some pacer wires coming out of his chest. They put those in just in case he needs them since the surgeon really messed with his heart! So far, so good! He hasn’t needed anything from the pacer wires and his heart has stayed in a nice normal rhythm!
As I predicted, pain has been Ethan’s biggest problem. They started him out on a Morphine drip, but really the amount he was getting was absolutely nothing compared to what he got while in the NICU as an infant for 5 straight months! We pushed all day to get the staff to listen to us, starting in the morning even before surgery. Finally at shift change tonight Ethan got his Dilaudid and has actually been resting comfortably ever since. It is very clear that his body is tired and just needs the rest for tonight! The surgeon was hoping to have him off the vent by today—HAAAAAA! She seriously underestimates our Ethan! Until his pain is under control and we get some of the extra fluid off (via Lasix) he will still be on the vent! We are completely fine with that, especially while he heals!
