Wow what a NIGHT

Post-Op Day 4

Sorry for not updating everyone last night. It was a crazy night to say the least. Yesterday was full of twists and turns. It was our first full day out of the PCICU. Surprisingly enough there are good and bad things associated with getting out of intensive care. We can discuss those details later. Most importantly Colby was making progress which is great. We noticed Colby was becoming more attentive and active as the day went on. In theory that sounds great and we were initially excited. The excitement quickly faded as his mood began to change. We could tell that he was becoming frustrated being in bed, not having use of one of his hands, and being the focus of strangers' attention every time he tried to go to sleep. The most frustrating for C was the blood clot "evaluations." Every doctor on the floor needed to feel his toes and look for a pulse in his little foot. He was cool with it the first 287 times. They had put socks on his feet to try to keep his right foot warm. This caused an additional step to the evaluation. Sock off, poke, feel, rub, talk, sock back on.... next foot for comparison sake. Eventually he would cry every time someone looked at his feet. The other drama surrounded his blood pressure issue. His blood pressure continued to be all over the board. The goal was top number under 100. He went from 96 top number to 155 top number.... 96 when he was asleep and 155 when he was agitated from having his blood pressure taken. The most humorous point in the day was when the doctors were doing rounds yesterday, and one of the resident doctors suggested cutting Colby's potassium dose in half. The attending cardiologist said how about you discontinue the dose and see how the boy does on his own. He went on to say he should make all the residents try the potassium to see what the nasty stuff did to their blood pressure. Needless to say the potassium dose was discontinued. We initially thought his behavior was a little funny until evening arrived and his agitation level increased. It got to the point that he wouldn't go to sleep b/c he was so agitated. We needed a change of atmosphere.... We asked for a hall pass. Oh yes I went and got the stroller and asked the nurse how to make him mobile. She hooked us up w/ a portable monitor and we went on a walk down the hall and outside to the roof-top play area. Colby was in heaven.

High point in drama for Mom and Dad.... giving Colby his first blood clot shot.... Yes, I made Becca go first b/c I am a sissy. She gave him his shot last night and I gave it to him this morning. I should have put a skirt on when I did it b/c I broke out into a sweat over a little shot to the leg for a 1 yr old that had his chest cracked open on Friday... chest tubes out on Monday.... cage fight on Saturday and I broke a sweat over an insulin needle.

We thought the night was good after we got past the shot and got the hall pass. Little did we know. It was long into the evening that we realized Colby was over being his bed and wasn't going to close his eyes again as long as people were still touching his toes. We ended up spending most of the night literally walking the halls of Children's pushing his stroller while he sat w/ his feet propped up spread eagle living the dream. We came to the conclusion that in his mind bad things don't happen to him in his stroller and if he was moving then nobody could bother him. This exercise program went on through the night.... At one point we paced the hall for over an hour at 2 AM to keep him happy and peaceful. Daddy needed some sleep. The nurses thought he was sooooo cute apparently they couldn't hear him when the door closed and we tried to put him in the bed.

Long night no sleep... no update

Post-Op Day 5

New day with tired parents and cranky baby. The hall walks continued all day today. My favorite part of the day was getting a training session on giving Colby his shots. Lets be honest I had envisioned a lot of things during this hospital visit but me sticking a needle in Colby's leg wasn't on the table of possibilities. Colby also got to meet with a physical therapist today... not very productive. She would look at him and he would give her a dirty look she would touch him and he would scream. I guess he thought she was there to look at his toes. The highlight to the afternoon was Colby having to give blood for the second time today to check his blood clot medicine levels. He was really excited about getting poked again... remember he is still agitated and did not sleep last night. They decided that since he was mad they should go ahead and remove the stitches from his chest tube incisions.... the day kept getting better.

I think things were more peaceful in the PCICU. Hopefully he will be able to get some rest in his own bed tonight at home.....

Thanks for continuing to pray and send so many wonderful words of encouragement. Thanks for all of the wonderful meals... if you haven't fed us yet there are plenty more opportunities.... just kidding. We are so very blessed to have the most amazing network of family and friends that have lifted us up over the past 5 days and made this experience bearable. Thank you and we love you.