Post-Op PICU Day 2

Around 4:30am the nurse started reducing Diego’s pain meds so he would wake up.  By 5:00am he was awake and within an hour he was off the ventilator. 

He's Awake!

Flying Solo!

Once awake, it didn’t take long for Diego to become agitated and frustrated.  A Diego quote…

“When is she (his nurse) getting off the phone?” 

I ask, “Why?” 

Diego raises his hands up, looks around and says, “For her to get all of these tubes out of me.” 

Oh, it’s going to be a long day.

He's moving around more which has caused his blood pressure to rise. The highest I've seen it today is 148/76.  Therefore, they've increased his blood pressure meds. They need him to come off those meds a little before he can try walking.  He is seeing a lot of double and blurry vision.  He becomes very nervous when his BP spikes.

He is not remembering information so we are replaying the course of the last 2 days over and over.

His oxygen saturation drops rapidly without his oxygen (nasal piece). Eighty-one is the lowest it has dropped before getting the oxygen piece back in place.

He is still on Lasix and urinating a lot! 

He's been nauseated and thrown up some throughout the day. He ate a popsicle around 2:00pm, but was unsuccessful at keeping it down.  In fact, Diego has been unsuccessful at keeping any oral fluids down. In general, he has felt crummy all day. Around 5:30 he threw up the Tylenol he had been given for a slight fever. After throwing up, his oxygen saturation levels dropped into the upper 70s (with oxygen assistance). After a chest X-ray it was determined he has Pneumothorax (air in between the lungs and chest wall). They are trying some oxygen therapy then will X-ray him again in approximately 4 hours. Hopefully we will see improvement. 

The follow up X-ray didn't show much change. They are going to keep him on 100% oxygen over night and X-ray again in the morning. If it becomes worse they would need to put him back on the ventilator. So although this isn't great news it is better than the alternative.

Dr. del Nido stopped by earlier and said he isn't leaving ICU until he makes some changes with the pacemaker and lung. Hopefully tomorrow we can get Diego up and into a chair since moving around helps him improve overall.  Unfortunately, his blood pressure is still elevated. It's all such a balancing act. 

Tonight, before Cesar left the hospital, I was standing beside Diego holding his hand. He looked up and asked, “Where’s dad”. I pointed to Cesar standing at the foot of his bed. He asked his dad to stand on his right side and hold his hand. Then Diego asked us to pray for him.  Diego's oxygen saturation dropping and the doctors hovering all around him to help him breathe was very traumatic for Diego. Once everything calmed down he asked several times if he was going to die. I told Diego many times in preparation for this surgery that the greatest thing he can do when he is afraid is to pray and remember that God is with him and understands his suffering. 

Thank you for your constant love prayers and support. It means more than you will ever know.