Surgery

Just so you know....Joshua is in surgery again right now. Trying to get a PICC line that works, or some kind of line. There seems to be some confusion. Please pray that he doesn't loose much blood. He lost a fair amount the other day and there is no blood in house for him. :-(
I will update when he is out.
Love,
Leah

Ugh...it has been one of those days.

So....here we are. Still in the CICU. We no longer have a room on the floor. Evidently we were moved out. I would have LOVED for someone to call me so that I could have gotten all my things out. But they didn't. Now, I am chasing people down to make sure that I have all my stuff. UGH.
Joshua hasn't had a very good day. His heart rate has been pretty high all day. Mostly in the 180's. He is pretty dehydrated and is waiting for a blood transfusion. He lost a lot of blood in surgery today so that made the need that much greater. They had weaned him from the Propanalol (which was started to reduce his heart rate). I guess he really liked it. Now they have started him on Esmolol. It pretty much does the same thing but it is an IV med. So....here are we are. Residents again of the CICU. He can not go to the floor while he is on Esmolol.
It has been very busy here today. While Joshua was not critical there has been a lot of traffic in and out trying to trouble shoot and come up with the best plan.
So a recap. He had a fever this morning. I think he is feeling yucky...I don't really think he has an infection. He got a new PICC line this morning. Neither lumen draws and it was not sutured to his skin. :-( His PIV that he was supposed to be getting his Milrinone through blew out. His heart rate was way too high, blood pressure was too low, iron and potassium need some tweaking, still waiting on the blood transfusion....I think that about sums it up. *sigh*
So, the upside Les was his nurse today and Nicole was in here helping out most of the day. :)
I am EXHAUSTED and NEED to get some work done.
Leah

Out of Surgery

Just wanted to let you know that Joshua is out of surgery. He is back up in the CICU but is expected to go back to the floor later tonight. He spiked a fever this morning and there is a fear that he possibly has an infection in his blood. Please pray that he does not. We do not need a set back right now.
He has a new line and it all seemed to go really easy.
Thanks for checking in on him!
Leah

PICC line PROBLEM-O

So~our favorite little dude is spending the night in the CICU tonight. The IV team came in to change the dressing on his PICC line and it broke! It bled and was a mess. They put in a PIV so that he could continue to get his Milrinone. Policy states that you can only get Milrinone through a PIV if you are in the unit. They tried to rush him into the IR for immediate care but they had another little kiddo in there and they weren't going to be able to get him in until 2 am. Needless to say they decided that it could probably wait until the morning.
We just had a bunch of back and forth regarding this line earlier today. Change it...don't change it...make it bigger....can't make it bigger....need new line....too risky to put in new line....You get the idea.
So.....it was determined that this PICC line would stay in until he has the transplant and then a line would be put in through a vein in his upper body.
Of course....Joshua complicated things....I SWEAR it is the Garrison in him. :-) LOL
I don't know what they are going to do with the line now. Fix it or replace it. Guess we will find out tomorrow.
I am VERY glad that Betsy is on tonight. She is taking care of the kiddo right next door to Joshua. I know that she will keep him company tonight. :) We lucked out and ended up in the unit and not the Bridge. (I love having friends!) In fact he is in Room #70. That was the room we spent most of our time in this summer. I am at the house with Chubbs tonight. I will have to get up super early and head over to the hospital so that I can be there when they take him back to IR. Oh~ I am also happy to have friends out on the floor! :) They are holding our room for us so we didn't have to move out while he made a visit back to the unit. YIPPEE.
Hope you all are sleeping! :) More tomorrow.
Leah

October 9th

This was one of Joshua's first rounds in the Bumbo chair.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5G7ghg0fmI

When the page loads right under the picture make sure that you click to watch it in high quality.

Happy Halloween!! X2

A little coaching can go a long ways...... Sorry you have to watch it sideways.

Happy Halloween!!

Not too much to report on today. I just wanted to share Joshua with you all.

He did get his HIB vaccination tonight. He took it like a champ. We had a Heparin issue today but the important thing is that Joshua is ok. It was a grim reminder that no matter how careful, mistakes happen. For the most part he was very happy and flirty. Tonight I was playing with him and blew a raspberry under his arm. He did start to giggle. Still a little reserved but I think I found his ticklish spot. If you touch his ribs or his feet he gets pretty agitated. He does not find it at all entertaining.

Shyla and I took Trinity (aka Little Bo Beep...or if you ask her, Peep) trick or treating around the house. We had a lot of fun and she really...REALLY scored a lot of sugar. Way more than we need! I was proud that I maintained COMPLETE control and had one Junior mint and one Almond Joy. :)

My BIG boy Trevor (who was a ninja) had an enjoyable time with Grandma tonight. I am sure that it is one that will stay with him for a long time. It will be known as "That time Grandma took me and we got lost and then she tripped and took a digger over the weed." :) Ah....the memories.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

I hope you all had a nice time today. .

Blessings,

Leah