1st night after surery

Last night was spent on pain management. Caydence slept for small increments and then would wake up in pain.

This morning they came around and did rounds. They said her Xray from this morning looked very good. Her central line in her neck can come out this morning. When she feels up to it she can eat. She was very thirsty last night and was finally glad when they let her have some water.

All in all she is doing pretty good. We are VERY tired. No sleep last night and not much the night before.

There is talk that we may leave the ICU this afternoon and go up to the recovery floor. We shall see. I am in no hurry so whether it is today or tomorrow will be all good. Of course I will let u all know.

Surgery updates

8:15- they just took her back for surgery. Updates will be every hour to 1.5 hours. Surgery will be 5-6 hours.

9:56- they just called and they have her under and they are starting the surgery. Everything is going good.

11- They just called. Caydence is on the heart bypass machine. So far no complications. They are starting the repair work.

12- Caydence is off bypass. Her heart is beating on its own. Echo looks good. Putting in chest tubes soon. All in all good so far.

1:30- We just saw her. She looks GREAT. They are hooking her up and we will get to stay with her in an hour.

5- Caydence just got extubated, which is great! She just has the nasal oxygen. She is sleeping in and out. Mainly out. Stats are great. She is a rock star!!!

A change of plans

So we went today for our pre-op. It was going to be about 3-4 hours. We did the usual bag of tricks:

* Stats (they were good)
* EKG (good)
* Xray (good)
* Bloodwork (level 8 meltdown)

So then we had to wait for the bloodwork to get back. When it got back her hemoglobin level was 17.5. You may remember (or not) when she had her bleeding ulcer she was down to a 7. That was bad. They transfuse when it gets that low.

Well, they admit at 18 and give you iv fluids. So, as a precaution, they admitted us a night early. They will put in an IV soon, and start iv at midnight.

So some of you have asked why her level is so high. Well basically, she is expelling more oxygen and she is expelling more oxygen because it is truly time for her to have the last surgery. This has nothing to do with the ulcer. If she had an ulcer her levels would go down and not up (her average level is 14/15)

The additional problem with a hemoglobin level at 17.5 is that it can increase your chance for a blood clot, which we obviously don't want.

Surgery is still on for tomorrow and we are just trying to roll with the change of plans....like doing doctor work on her teddy bear. see below.

Fancy Nancy

Could my kid BE any cuter? I think not.

Messy fun

The inlaws got Caydence a bubble blower that blows Crayola paint colored bubbles. Super fun but super messy. Here's the pictures. Hope u all had a great Easter!

Hearts and bunnies

Ok, 1st things 1st. The heart is good. Caydence had her 1st heart checkup after the birthday/ulcer fiasco. Oxygen rate is 83, which is awesome.

Next step- Monday we have the pre-op for her endoscopy.

Ok 2nd thing, I took Caydence to see the Easter bunny. Swoon. This kid just loves the Easter bunny. Is she the cutest thing ever????

Dates and Patience

Ok, got some dates for you fine folks.

April 6 (Wednesday)- heart checkup, just to make sure the ole ticker is working ok
April 11 (Monday)- pre-op appt for Endoscopy.
April 18 (Monday)- Endoscopy (gulp). This is to make sure the ulcer has healed.
May 12 (Thursday)- Heart Cath- this is a day procedure to map out the heart for surgery

so why do I need patience?
Cause we STILL don't have a heart surgery date. We don't have a date because they want to wait until we get the results back from the endoscopy and the cath to set a date. Sounds reasonable.


However, this is frustrating for the following reasons:

1) I want this done and over with. Yes, I said it. I, selfish me, want this over with. I am a planner. As much as I can't control this situation, having a date on my calendar let's me plan and prepare myself for the surgery.

2) I also want this over with for Caydence. I feel like this surgery has been keeping her from so much, that I feel like we will FINALLY all have peace after it is over. Things as simple as going to church, aren't simple for us because we don't want Caydence to get sick, especially before surgery. So she doesn't go, and Joe and I have to coordinate who goes/who watches Caydence.


3) I plan on going back to work AFTER Caydence's last surgery. Well, it is a little hard to interview for positions, if I have no idea when I can start. Argh.


***** I know God's timing is best. I do. I know it will all work out how it is supposed to work out and that his timing is better than mine.*****

I also know that I am human and patience is a life long battle for me.

Below is a picture I thought I would share of my favorite badge.