A lot of foot traffic into Tucker's room this morning, and
after several meetings with Tucker surgeon, cardiologist, and the cardiac ICU
team, they have determined that his fluid will not leave with the cardiac line
that is connected directly into the heart. Around 12pm, since his oxygen
saturations were low, in the high 60's on 2 liters of Oxygen, they made the
determination to pull the IV line out of his heart. To do this Tucker has
to be immobile for around 10 minutes. (Mommy and Daddy both said that that
was IMPOSSIBLE) Since he has only slept for a few hours
these past few days, they have to give him a lot of medication for
him to be completely relaxed for this procedure. (They still think
that since he has had so much sedation in the past with his procedures, he
has built up more of a tolerance than many his age.) The heart line
is sutured in with two stitches and they use a razor blade to cut it out and
then they are able to pull the line out smoothly. They are hoping that
after they pull the line, more fluid will drain as he has already had several
doses of Lasix, a diuretic.
This is an chest x ray of what his lungs should look like.
12:30-2pm Tucker finally slept some. he also has
started to move things in his GI tract, so that is a great sign that maybe we
will be able to get some food into him soon. The longer that he doesn't
eat, the harder it will be for him to want to eat. He is drinking
though. YAY for small victories.
2pm...Well, they were right! After the heart IV was
removed and his oxygen was increased to 4 liters, his O2 saturations went up to
the mid 70's. Tons of fluid came out via the bulb syringe drains that are
still in his chest. Almost double the amount that should have, which is
normal when you have what they referred to as a pocket in the heart wall.
This is normal for the Fontan revision, and sadly normal for him. With
his Glenn when he was 4 months old, he had similar issues with fluid
retention. It's normal for when the pressures in the working chambers of
the heart are trying to stabilize that fluid retention fluctuates.
5pm He was so tired, so our amazing day RN, put a note on
our door and let him sleep a few hours. We had visits from my cousin
Tracey who was nice enough to bring some things up from my house that I really
needed. (THANK YOU TRACEY, no matter how long you prepare for this you
always forget something!) I (Mommy) also got a, much needed, dinner break
from Tucker's bedside for a while because Aunt Laurie came over after to work
for a visit to sing "soft kitty" to Tucker. Since he is till
not feeling well he wanted no part of it. Laurie brought a lovely bag of Lindt chocolates for the RN room here in the CICU from Tucker of course.
6pm Guess who's room is moving? We are graduating from
a post surgical bed in the CICU to a non surgical bed in the CICU. It's
bittersweet...we are getting moved due to a transplant patient moving in.
(I still cant believe that they carry human organs in beer coolers, I saw it
being wheeled around the CICU floor) Please add this family to your daily
prayers. Our road is always difficult but what a transplant parent faces
on a daily basis is unbearable to even think.
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