Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Morning update

I stayed up for a couple more hours after my last post. Magnus continued to have some "fluid issues" (fluid leaking out of his circulation; this is the most common complication after the Fontan) and less expectedly was having some heart rhythm issues where his atria and ventricles were contracting at the same time. This was causing his heart rate to go up high (in the 170s) and his blood pressure was too low (the fluid loss also contributed to this). Furthermore, he was showing no sign of waking up. During his surgery they had placed pacer wires going into his heart that they were able to hook up to an external pacemaker. Again, rhythm issues are extremely common after open heart surgery, and are usually temporary

By 11 p.m., Magnus was still showing no sign of waking so I decided to get some rest on my "sleep couch" upstairs in the hospital. I asked the nurse to call me if Magnus woke up, and slept with my phone next to my head, but then I woke up around 3:30 on my own and hadn't gotten a call. I couldn't fall back asleep, so I decided to go back down to the unit.

Magnus was still asleep! However, his heart rhythm issues had straightened themselves out. He has a slight fever and slightly elevated white blood cell count. Also, one of his IVs had infiltrated (leaked) so he had a big bruise on his right hand. Finally, around 5:30 a.m., he started to REALLY wake up. It was pretty unpleasant to see him gagging on the breathing tube and flailing around in pain.  He was extubated around 6 a.m. His first raspy words were "I want some ice cream!" (He can't eat or drink anything until he's had the breathing tube out for a few hours. A few minutes later, he said "I want my M&Ms!" I had given him some M&M's the evening before he went in for surgery and he wasn't able to finish the bag, so I'd told him I'd save them for later. Obviously, he remembered!

Right now I'm having breakfast in the cafeteria while the nurses do their shift change, but I should probably get back up there soon.

8 comments:

  1. Wishing the little dude a day of healing and ice cream.

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  2. I hope ice cream & m&m's are approved soon to distract from the ouchies!

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  3. Definitely wishing I could beam ice cream to Magnus with my mind. Glad he's extubated and his heart rhythm is better!

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  4. Sending thoughts of his favorite ice cream flavor and a smooth day of recovery. He is one amazing little dude and has two incredible parents!

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  5. I can't help but think that asking for ice cream and M&Ms immediately upon waking is a great sign! I'm so glad to read the good news. I hope you all get some rest and as much ice cream as you can handle!

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    1. Ice cream makes everything better. Magnus and I share a special gene that requires ice cream to most every ailment or celebration.

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    2. That "to" was supposed to be a "for." Interestingly enough, I couldn't post on this site before, but I went to my old PC (ditching my MacPro and had no trouble. I think lots of people are having trouble posting to this site.

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  6. wakin up feisty! hope he gets to have his treats soon! here's a link to the first post from our fontan experience if you wanted some reading material. I always found other's stories helpful. hope you guys have a shorter stay than we did! http://bluemoxie.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/hello-friends/

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