Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Improvements in Mood & Wren

I returned in time for rounding at Wren's bedside. Here are the highlights:

1) Arterial line & central lines can come out. [Was TAKEN out at 11am]
2) Chest tube needs to be watched another day. Output was 40CC in 24 hours, none in past 12 hours.
3) X-ray looks good.
4) Echo looked good (peak flow was 40, mean was 24). Suboartic repair looked clear but there was a very small flap of tissue. No obstruction.
5) Aortic valve showed no regurgitation.
6) Mitral valve looks stable. Still has about 9mm gradient as it was pre-operatively.
7) Wren is cleared to go to the floor TODAY but probably won't move today due to backups on the ward.
8) In the BEST case scenario Wren could be discharged on Thursday! Yes, you read it right - 7 days after surgery.

This is all speculation, of course. It may take longer and on hospital time it usually does. The earliest we would fly home is Monday morning but it is still very encouraging to think that things could move that fast.

Joshua is keen to take Wren on a roll in the red wagon but we would still have to take the IV pole with us for a little while. They still have him on a drip and IV lasix.

The only negative is that the chest tube crepitition (whatever the spelling) is still there, if a bit reduced. It is tender around the chest tube site and still crunchy. We are still weighing diapers and estimating how much juice he sucks or how much chocolate milk he gets with his cheerios. Yes, chocolate milk - I forgot to order the regular milk with his breakfast and there was only chocolate milk in the nourishment room fridge.

I am having early lunch (after shopping at the local Safeway which is awfully pricey) and will go back to see Wren shortly.

Love you all and thanks so much for the messages and support. I could not start to think of all the people I need to reply to.

3 comments:

Wyndi said...

it sounds like wren is doing really well!! he is a rock star!! We are sending our love and hope that he feels better by the minute:) Go Wren!! don't even think about replying to us:) We don't except a reply just want to send love and support we know how crazy it is there even when the day is going well! ~wyndi

tamusana said...

Wow - it sounds (to my uninformed ears) like Wren is making fabulous progress. By the way, I told Jeannie you're there, and she said she'll try to find you next time she's in the hospital (although at the moment she's home with her son Andrew who has strep!). Oh, and it's "crepitation"... I looked it up... always exciting to learn a new word.

Shannon said...

Hey Wyndi and Tam
Wren is doing well but our two roommates (the older kids)were discharged today - on the 4th day after pulmonary valve replacement. Holy shmoly!

The big news (next post) is that Wren is being moved to the floor this afternoon.

I am sorry about the confusion between PET mice and goldfish CHEESE CRACKERS. I actually suggested she buy her a pet rat but that may have been even more confusing. It is fun to be the culturally monolithic one for a change.