Friday, November 06, 2009

Last night they brought in some beef broth for Jaden. We were supposed to stick to the 1oz. per hour but once Jaden got a hold of the bowl he wouldn't let it go and pretty much chugged it all in one sitting. I tried to get it away from him but the only way I would have been able to is if we spilled it all over him. He was not gonna give that up. So he finished it all off and then he pretty much slept the entire night. He did really well over night and only woke up a couple times saying, "I want water, lots of water." My sweet boy.

Today he has been doing well but not too happy that he gets such small amounts of water. He keeps telling us "lots of water." He is so cute. They are still watching the fluids from his chest tubes as his lungs seem to be a little collapsed. So they are wanting him to work his lungs more so we are going to try to have him blow bubbles every two hours. We'll see if he will even try.

Another thing they are watching is his "P wave." This is what reads the electrical current from his heart. The s-node is what sends an electrical current for the atrium "upper chamber" to contract, that electrical signal continues to the ventrical "lower chamber" and makes it contract. The P wave is not showing up on the monitor or EKG. It had shown one time after surgery on the EKG so they are thinking as he starts getting up and moving around more it will hopefully come back. When he got his surgery, they put in pacer wires attached to his heart for a "just in case." They are now using the Atrial wire from the pacer wires to make the s-node fire. Worse case scenario is if it does not start to fire on his own, he may have to get a pacemaker put in. They are going to turn off the pacer every so often to see if his is working on its own yet. The surgeon was just in the room and he thinks that everything will be alright and as he walked out he gave us two thumbs up. But this is just something they watching for now.

I will post pictures after we find the cord to download the pictures from the camera to the computer.

4 comments:

J said...

Look how well he is using his language - "lots of water"!!! Yee-haw!! You've been in my thoughts and prayers all week!! May he have a quick recovery and return to the spitfire we know and love!!!
Take care,

Jessie Zack

janelle said...

Wow. I can't believe he is awake, talking, and wanting to drink already. What a little fighter he is. Glad the Child Life people are helping Ethan and Ashley. They will be great for Jaden too. Take care and keep up with your medical reports. You are getting closer and closer to your degree. Love, Janelle and Terry.

Anonymous said...

What an education we are getting. Love you lots. Michael says Hey! to Ethan and Tina wants to give Ashley a big hug! See you soon.
Much Love,
Paula

Tia Kelly said...

Steph-you make sure you get some sleep too my dear. You need to keep well so that you can be strong for Jaden. Thinking about you all, all the time. Hugs and kisses.