I first and foremost wanted to give everyone a quick status report on Caden. We are thankful to say that they were able to take Caden's chest tubes out this morning. Some air got into his chest cavity when they took the tubes out, so they weren't able to take him off the ventilator until late this afternoon. Poor little man did NOT like having that tube down his throat, especially because they had to wean him off some of his sedatives and pain medications in order to get him extubated (take the breathing tube out). It was terrible just watching his little face get all red and his forehead wrinkle up while he tried to cry but no sound came out . . . My arms literally ached to hold him and rock him and make everything all better.
Thankfully they were able to get him off the ventilator. The nurse said the first 24 hours are important to see if he can do well without the ventilator, or if they have to put it back on. We are praying that he will be just fine without it! They also weaned him completely off the major pain medication he was on and turned off his blood pressure medication to see how his heart could handle that on it's own. . . Unfortunately, when we left this afternoon to go get Jayci, his LA (left atrium) pressure was really high (this is an indication of the work being done by that thickened left ventricle, which will determine whether or not he needs another surgery). We wont know whether or not that surgery will be necessary for another few months, but we are praying that number goes down significantly and the Lord will completely heal his heart.
The next few days are a process of seeing how he does without his ventilator and weaning him off some more medications. He still has his heart lines in, and we cannot hold him or go to the step-down unit until those are out.
Quite honestly, I'm flat-exhausted. And I'm pretty sure it's more emotional than physical. But right now I feel like I'm the least "ok" I've been throughout this whole process. So please be praying for Caden's continued healing, but also for peace and comfort for our hearts.
That said, we are oh-so-grateful and excited to see our little man without tubes down his throat and tape all over his face . . .
Thank you again for all your encouragement and support, I'm not sure words can ever describe how much it means to our family. We love y'all!
Thankfully they were able to get him off the ventilator. The nurse said the first 24 hours are important to see if he can do well without the ventilator, or if they have to put it back on. We are praying that he will be just fine without it! They also weaned him completely off the major pain medication he was on and turned off his blood pressure medication to see how his heart could handle that on it's own. . . Unfortunately, when we left this afternoon to go get Jayci, his LA (left atrium) pressure was really high (this is an indication of the work being done by that thickened left ventricle, which will determine whether or not he needs another surgery). We wont know whether or not that surgery will be necessary for another few months, but we are praying that number goes down significantly and the Lord will completely heal his heart.
The next few days are a process of seeing how he does without his ventilator and weaning him off some more medications. He still has his heart lines in, and we cannot hold him or go to the step-down unit until those are out.
Quite honestly, I'm flat-exhausted. And I'm pretty sure it's more emotional than physical. But right now I feel like I'm the least "ok" I've been throughout this whole process. So please be praying for Caden's continued healing, but also for peace and comfort for our hearts.
That said, we are oh-so-grateful and excited to see our little man without tubes down his throat and tape all over his face . . .