Bleh

We were starting to think that the plan for James was a secret plan, but then the surgeon finally called us around 8 PM. He does think that surgery is needed, but that it's not urgent because whatever blockage is there isn't a complete blockage. Usually I'm delighted that something isn't urgent, but then he also mentioned that the surgery likely wouldn't be scheduled until the end of next week (or even into the following week). We'll talk to the doctors more tomorrow or Friday (a cell phone call on a bad connection wasn't the best time for an extended conversation), but it sounds like the reason for the delay is a matter of scheduling rather than medical reasons, and it's really upsetting to think that James's hospital stay is going to be extended for at least a week because of this. It's also upsetting because he's been on fluids for a really long time, and if they don't feed him before the surgery (which seems like the most likely course of action), that's not great either. The fact of him needing surgery is stressful, but we're really eager to just get this problem solved so that he can move on and get healthy.

They're giving Matthew an additional high blood pressure medicine, since the analapril isn't consistently controlling his pressure. They also did another echocardiogram to rule out a possible heart-related cause (arterial something-or-other), and his heart looked fine. He's been doing pretty well with his feedings; it seems like on average he's taking about half of his milk through the bottle (at the times when he's awake for them -- they're still doing some purely tube feedings as well).

Our visit today was relatively short, but we did get in some snuggle time with them. :)

[Photo is Mike with James.]