Post Surgery

We have been blessed today for sure! Colby is doing well so far. He is in the Critical Care Unit now receiving excellent care from an awesome team of nurses! He is pretty excited b/c he is on a 1:1 nurse ratio so he has all of their attention. He still has his breathing tube in, but he is actually breathing on his own at the moment. He is kind of getting frustrated with the tube at this point. They have given him a sedative to help with this discomfort. They are hoping to extubate him sometime tonight if the next testing they do comes back with good results. Once he is extubated, they will wait 4 -6 hours and then let us try to start feeding him again. I know he will love this!

We just spoke with someone about the surgery, and they told us that because of Colby's good size, they were actually able to get a bigger shunt in place. This will hopefully give us additional time to "fatten" him up before the Glenn is needed. The longer we have between surgeries the better! As I have mentioned many times before as a result of Becca's determination Colby has exceeded all of the doctors expectations with his growth and development.

Colby did end up needing some blood once he got into the room, but I have been told that this is normal and nothing to worry about. It just sounds so scary to me knowing that he had to get someone else's blood. His chest tube is still in and will remain in until at least Wednesday. He is not requiring any additional oxygen right now, which is great! His sats are actually in the low 90s right now.

When we walked into the room, it was very overwhelming. It is one of those things that you try to prepare yourself for, but I don't know that anything could prepare a parent to see their baby on so many machines and having so many tubes. To be honest, though, we were just so happy to see him we were able to look past a lot of the "scary" things. We noticed immediately that his color looked so much better. His incision is on his right side, and it is much smaller than we expected.

Since we began writing this update some things have changed for the better..... They have been able to extubate him. He is no longer on the ventilator and they have been able to remove the tube from his nose as well. Currently he is breathing on his own with just a little bit of oxygen..... This is huge for such a short time after his surgery. We are so amazed with Colby. He is so strong to be so little!

Despite the magnitude of today's events Becca and I were at peace knowing that God was present with Colby in the OR. As we sat in the waiting room this morning waiting for updates from the OR, surrounded by family and friends, a friend asked how many e-mails and text messages we had gotten so far. It was really overwhelming to think about it, because we were continually uplifted throughout the day by the many messages that we both received containing personal prayers, scriptures, and thoughts. No question that the strength we have been blessed with is a result of God's presence, along with the presence of the many different people He has put in our lives. The kindness and love shown can never be re-paid nor will it ever be forgotten. Thank you....