Surgery has been Scheduled

well for those that have been keeping up with us over the past few months you will remember the roller coaster analogy I used during our stay in the NICU.... Well i think that was the kiddie ride b/c it sure feels like we got on the adult roller coaster today.

I ended up coming back to the hospital last night to stay w/ Becca and Colby. Thanks mom for driving back to the house late to stay w/ Brody. As I returned to the hospital things appeared to be settling down. We finally got moved to a room on the PICU floor around 1:30 this morning which got us out of the ER.... Yeah.

Colby actually slept through the move from the ER to the PICU which was a good sign. He appeared to be stable throughout the night he was eating and sleeping just as he had in the weeks prior to these recent episodes. He ate really well this morning and was able to rest a lot. We thought things were good. He had actually eating 15.5 oz by noon today which was good. Then things began to change. While 2 of the doctors were in the room doing assessments his SATs began to fall. In a matter of minutes his SATs had dropped into the 60's which is bad.... Keep in mind his normal SATs had been in the mid 80's to low 90's for the past 2 months. Along with his SATs dropping into the 60's went his color. He began looking ashy or a pale blue gray all over. We began to worry as the doctors began to page for additional help. They called the attending cardiologist, the attending ICU doctor and the attending Pediatrician on the floor. They quickly raised his Oxygen levels and began prepping us for the inevitable.

The cardiologist told us that things were quickly deteriorating. He called for a surgical consult and began preparing us for the next step. We began to realize that the surgery we knew would some day come was about to come even sooner than we had anticipated.

Within a 2 hour window his SATs dropped to 60, they raised his Oxygen intact to 10 times what it had been previously, started him on an IV bag, cut off all oral feeding, started him on morphine, and called in the surgeon. Wow what a change of course.

As of this moment the game plan is as follows: They have scheduled him for surgery (BT shunt) for first thing Monday AM if they are able to keep him stable over the weekend. We have already signed the consent forms and the surgeon has signed off on the procedure in case they have to act quickly over the weekend.

This procedure is the surgery that we were hoping to skip. This procedure will buy Colby a couple more months to continue to grow and get stronger. They had discussed moving forward with the GLEN procedure but the surgeon was concerned b/c of his age and the abnormal complexity of his procedure. He will still face 2 additional surgeries over the next 2 yrs.

Becca and I have come to terms with the reality and we are now waiting til the bell rings on Monday. Thank you so much for all of the prayers and positive words of encouragement. Many have asked what we you can do to help.... Pray for wisdom and guidance to the doctors and nurses caring for Colby. Pray for strength for Becca and me. Thanks to our parents for their unselfish accommodations for Brody.

As a last note i once again want to brag on Becca she once again has allowed us to be where we are today. It is because of her amazing motherly instinct to start the ball rolling yesterday that got us to the hospital. It is because of her determination and selfless actions over the past 7 months that have made Colby prepared physically for this moment in time. She is truly the most selfless and giving person I know. I hope that both of our boys someday realize how blessed they are to have her as their mommy. I can't mention her strength enough and what it has meant to our family. I love you more than you know and our children are better because of you.

Jason