James is out of the OR and is recovering back in his usual spot in the NICU. He and his parents are happy that he is surrounded by familiar faces in Pod F. The surgeon told us that his operation was completed with no complications. His diastolic blood pressure has already improved (the pressure of the blood flow between heart beats).They warned us that he might be kind of sick for a couple of days while he recovers, but so far he's doing great -- he's stable and not needing much extra oxygen. He'll be on the ventilator for a little while (probably through the weekend) to let everything heal up. The ventilator helps for two reasons. First, as part of the surgery, they had to spread some ribs and move his lung aside to reach the heart, so his lungs/ribs might be a little sore for a while (making it harder to breathe). And second, keeping him on the ventilator allows them to give him pain medicine as needed. (They used fentenyl for both sedation during the operation and for pain relief afterwards.)
Now we can breathe again, too!
5 comments:
That's awesome news! I can only imagine how relieved you must be! Way to go James (and doctors too)!
Colleen
Yeah!!!
:)
R
That's awesome! Great news!!!
Kim
So you guys have all had quite a day, haven't you? Except Mattie, I guess, who probably just wondered, "Hey, Where'd everybody go? Oh, OK, bro' and the 'rents are back now. That's cool."
In any case, here's to quick healing & a speedy recovery. I toast you with the stiff drink I poured once I learned that Jeff won't make it back until tomorrow. :)
YIPPEE!
Post a Comment