Caution: Speed Bump Ahead

We are nearing the end of post-op day 2. The day started off pretty good. There was talk of weaning Colby off some more meds and beginning to disassemble his maze of wires and tubes. We were feeling pretty good after the doctor's morning rounds. For those that have been riding this journey with us in the past you know that the PCICU wouldn't be fun without some speed bumps along the way.


They removed his cath this morning along with his pacer lines. Progress..... then mid morning we noticed his blood pressure was rising and his SATs were falling.... neither of these things are good....

As the day went on Colby seemed to be more irritable... As his irritation went up so did his blood pressure. The cardiologist want his BP to stay under 100 (top number) there were times today that his BP broke 140. This is bad for several reasons the higher his blood pressure is the harder his recently repaired heart has to work plus high BP can cause headaches which he probably already has. As his BP continued to rise his SATS continued to fall so they had to put him back on Oxygen (another irritation) in the mind of a 1 year old. High BP can also cause his SATs to drop b/c the blood doesn't oxygenate the same with high BP as it does with normal or low BP. It then became a battle of wills and Colby has plenty of will power considering the past couple of days.


As evening approached they increased his BP medication and gave him another dose of pain medicine to try to get him relaxed and back within the normal range. As of this moment he is drinking Sprite from a bottle and his SATs are 87 and his BP is 128 over something.... I'm pretty sure this isn't going to turn into a public service announcement for the American dental Association or Coca-Cola corporation but hey we are moving things in the right direction. He appears to be relaxing a little more.


Our goals for tomorrow are getting the hose pipes out of his belly (known as chest tubes), getting his central line out of his upper chest, and possibly getting some of his meds dialed in to make him feel better.
Before you pick up the phone to call DCS on us, the scratches and irritation on his face are all self induced. We aren't sure why but he has been scratching his head and face all day. Not with his baby soft hands either. Remember they have both of his hands in "no no" casts to keep him from pulling on his lines and tubes. Resulting in wounds that look like he has been in a cat fight....


I am optimistic that progress will continue. At the end of the day he is doing much better than we expected. Swelling has been minimal and he has tolerated staying in the bed pretty well.


Thank you for all the prayers and gestures of kindness. The love we have felt over the past 3 days has been overwhelming. I'm pretty certain most of it has been directed towards my wonderful children and adorable wife but I have been able to experience it too along the way. I can not imagine trying to walk this journey alone. We are so blessed to have not only God holding our hands but friends and family surrounding us with love.