Skip to main content

Topic of the day - Chest tubes

Well I wish I had better news in regards to Masons chest tube drainage but unfortuntely I do not...
Yesterday's total drainage was significantly down (138cc) however today we are already at 230cc (drainage) and the "day" or 24 hour collection period does not end until 6am tomorrow morning. So we are going to have another high drainage day. (Dis-like / discourgaging / bad news - choose any other word you would like to describe and insert here_____)

Some good news is that they did not put back in an IV port(Thank goodness) and tomorrow morning he will have his left chest tube taken out. This could have happened today however we felt it would be best if he was sedated so he can not eat for 6 hours prior to the procedure. Thus the reason for this happening tomorrow AM vs. this afternoon. (Who wants to sit with a hungry 3 year old? Not us).
This is a huge step in the right direction but I am finding it hard to celebrate when we still have one large obstacle to overcome (Right chest tube drainage).

Tonight (thanks to my in-laws) Greg and I were able to escape and go have dinner with my family. It was nice to get out and to feel "somewhat" normal again but of course it is not the same with out Mason with us.

Did he miss us NO - I think he needed a break from us as much as we needed a break from this place... So even though I was hestitate to leave it worked out for all of us.

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!

Comments

Katie said…
Hoping the drainage has decreased or even stopped :) It is so frustrating...hang in there. So happy Mason is doing great, he's sure a cutie!

Popular posts from this blog

10 Years....

Mason, It is amazing how time passes by in the blink of an eye after you have kids…. It seems like just yesterday, yet this week, 10 years have passed since our life was turned upside down. The day our world took a turn we never saw coming. Each year leading up to the anniversary, I get anxious, emotional, sad, scared, and angry. I WISH 10 years later I felt differently. But I don’t. It almost feels just as raw as the day we were told…. This year. I am consciously recognizing what it is… MONDAY FEBRUARY 11 th ,2008. We sat in a room where a Doctor carefully articulated and explained to us about your special heart. There is one detail about this day I have seemed to forget in time. That is the name of the doctor who told us about our fate…. I could describe to you in details about anything else you might want to know, who was there, what we were wearing, what the Doctor himself looked like and the conversation we had. Yet his name, which used to be

Loaded Diaper?!?!?

Today's post title comes to you from the one and only Greg Garka... Thanks for the idea babe! As far as Mason is concernced today was another good day for our little man! We made our goal and got up and went on a total of three walks. The last walk of the night he spotted the “playroom” and was interested so we stopped and visited with our neighbors while he played. It was the highlight of the day. His appetite decreased today but that is to be expected since he hadn’t yet had a bowel movement (in 6 days)– however about 60 minutes ago things changed in that department and I am happy to report his bowels are working and back in action… During his echo he was again a crowd pleaser and was on his best behavior. The technician said that he was the best 3 year old she has done. It is so funny; he gets upset when something is about to happen and he doesn’t understand what. He tells us he is scared and then after we explain to him what they are going to do and that it won’t hurt –

Our Day at Children's

Hello all, Kelsey and I spent the morning at Children's Hopsital in Seattle today, what a place! They sure do a good job of trying to make the kids feel comfortable...part of me didn't even feel like I was at a hospital. We met with a Cardiologist, Dr. Vernon, and a Paranaetologist, Dr. Holmgren (yes, Mike Holmgren's daughter). Both of them were very nice and extremely informational. Dr. Vernon did confirm that Mason has HLHS and is a candidate for the Fontan Operations, which are the three stage surgeries he will have to go through to get his heart working as normal as possible. Kelsey and I have been talking about where we would want to do the surgeries in case we weren't comfortable with Seattle Children's. We knew going in that Children's in Seattle is one of the premeir hospitals in the country, but weren't sure how they were compared to other hospital's like University of Michigan with this particular heart disease. I'm glad to say that w