Post Glenn - Day 2

Jasiu is AMAZING and continues to surprise us and his great doctors and nurses every day. Since my last post on midday of Day 1, we went to the regular floor. He got to the PSHU around 5pm on Monday after surgery and almost exactly 24 hours later we were moving down out of the intensive care unit to a regular care floor, "step down". This experience is so much different from the first surgery...much quicker, stronger and knowledgeable.

Though things have been going generally well, Jasiu is still in a lot of pain as one can imagine. After the shock wore off from Jasiu taking two feeds PO, I mean the whole 4 ounces each feed without so much as a cough or whine...feeding on the floor by bottle has been a struggle and he's back on the NG. However, we knew not to expect full PO feeds right a way... we have a few theories why he took those  two bottles so well: 1) he was starving... he was not fed for over 24 hours because of anaesthesia and 2) he was still on a lot of pain meds so he may not have been bothered by the swallowing and energy needed to feed. Again, these are just our educated guesses... Jasiu needs to get his strength back and he can not do that without food and nourishment, so we will feed through NG until he gets some strength back, recovers from the surgery and gets in overall good health.  Hopefully he may wean himself off of the tube once that happens, otherwise we have a plan in place to wean him when he is medically ready to do so.

Second night was much better than the first and pain is controlled a little better on top of the Lortab (sp?) he can also get Motrin as needed interchangeably, so that helps. He slept much better because of the drugs (so I did too and even horizontally as there is a pullout bed on the floor)  and I feel like he will heal faster if he doesn't struggle and cry, though we don't want him to become dependant on the drugs.. it's really a fine line and we just have to read him well enough to know when he needs it. The biggest thing that hurts him right now from observing him, as he can't really tell us, is his cough from being intubated. He has some gunk stuck in his throat and clearing that requires a cough which he is good at but that causes him to jerk up and we think that causes pain to the incision and his throat. The pain meds will help with that so he can clear his throat without the need to be suctioned as he doesn't like that very much. If suctioning is needed, so be it, it's a necessary evil and eventually makes him feel better.  

Nonetheless, things are looking good for Jasiu and he had a chest x-ray in the morning, EKG and an echo on top of the routine vitals and morning rounds so it was a busy morning for him and he did pretty well. We will wait to see the results of all of these tests later today. We even got a few smiles and coo's from him, so we know his pain level is lower and he's not trying to sit up as much and makes me think that he knows it hurts so he won't do it. He still does bump his head with the big IV pad on his left arm and his eyes and face seem to itch a lot. He has a lot of strength in those little arms as we try to keep them away from scratching his face.  Additionally, he's still on oxygen. It's barely puffing for him as he's on 1/4th of a liter, but he seems to desat if we turn it off. Again, it's still quite early after surgery so he has to get used to the new  "plumbing" as one nurse said it. Also, being in this position already, I know Jasiu needs to adjust to changes sloooooowly, so I requested an even smaller Oxygen attachment a 1L measurement so that we can go down in increments of tenths and not quarters and wean him 1/10 of a liter at a time. He did well with that last time and I had to explain to the nurse since she was hesitant to do so.. I know him best and I know they have this so I had to stand up for him... sometimes that frustrates me with the nurses on 2nd floor. However, 2nd floor is only one floor away from the door so we need to cooperate and get out of there as soon as possible.

Speaking of home, earliest they see us leaving is tomorrow, Thursday, 4 days, 3 nights post surgery. I think it's too early but I trust our doctors and see that Jasiu is soooo strong it's just AMAZING.. I keep praying that we keep taking steps forward and know that home is the best place for him. We need prayers that we don't fall back and keep healthy in the hospital and go home tomorrow.

Day 2- waiting for echo in mommy's arms