The Day we have known about since March 15th - Part II

We have learned to accept, though not enjoy, all of the different things that Carsten has experienced during his seven weeks of life, most of which has been in the hospital. He has been poked, drawn, pulled, prodded, pushed, taped, attached, detached, injected, covered, uncovered, heated, cooled, elevated, measured, and checked. And then there is the rectal thermometer. Who discovered that part of the body was the place to get the most accurate temperature results and who was the poor soul who was on the end of that discovery?

Prepared with the visual experiences of the past seven weeks and the information about how the heart surgery was to be performed, we were expecting Carsten to look rough after the surgery. So we when we saw him post operation, he did look like he got hit by a truck. His eyes were swollen, he had a 12-inch incision down his chest, tape, tubes, injection marks, and various ink marks on his chest. There was a patch placed on his forehead and secured on the back of his head. He had heart leads, a pulsox monitor on his finger, and a blood pressure apparatus on his right leg. He had one nostril filled with a ventilator and the other nostril filled with a tube to empty his stomach. He had one IV in his neck, sown with three stitches so it wouldn't come out. Another IV was inserted into his left leg near his groin. Additionally, he had a drainage tube coming out his stomach to drain out the excess fluid around the heart. Worst of all, he had a foley catheter.

But his heart is fixed! Of course, he was sedated prior to and throughout the operation. What is truly remarkable is that despite having to endure all of the above treatment for his benefit, he rarely cries and I do mean rarely. He rarely fusses. He has been a Trooper throughout all of this experience. What a good temperament this boy has?!

So he is now in CVICU West. He will get extubated (get off of the ventilator) probably tomorrow morning. He is recovering well, wiggling around of late and recently opening his eyes. And he is sucking on his pacifier like he was trying to get it down his stomach. We expect another seven to nine days in the hospital to work on feeding with a repaired heart. We are anxious to see how well he does. While we knew the heart surgery wasn't a magic bullet for everything that ales him, we think his feeding will improve when he doesn't have to choose between breathing or swallowing. I think I would choose breathing.