WOW...you talk about having the total hospital experience. Yesterdays ECHO and chest xray showed lots of accumulated fluid on Tanner's right side again. Too much for medication treatment. So at 11:00 this morning, they moved Tanner back to the ICU and put in another drain tube in his right side. 200cc's of fluid came out (that's A LOT) Now, the Nurse Practitioner called me out into the hallway this morning "to talk". First she asked how I was holding up...are you kidding me? Yesterday I had to leave the room and walk down the street to Starbucks because I was so frustrated with having to give Tanner yucky tasting medicine and then him working himself up to throw up. Time for mommy's time-out! But after an hour of gabbing on the phone and a nice ice-tea lemonade...I felt recharged. The good news is his lungs have FINALLY adjusted to the new blood flow. So the drainage is now just chylus. That's the fluid that comes from when the fatty tissue around the heart is nicked. And for some reason it's not draining, perhaps because there is so much of it or it's really thick. But for risk of infection, it had to come out. Tanner woke up and asked to play Bingo again! After the procedure it was time for a dressing change on the main incision site and drain tubes. But when they took off the tape and gauze, they found at the bottom of the wound had separated. So at 6:00pm, Tanner went BACK to the OR to have his incision site cleaned and re-sutured.
7:45pm...We just met with the surgeon, Petros, Dr. Azakai's partner. There was NO sign of infection and he cleaned the wound and sewed it up good and tight. He said he'd hate to be the doctor to take those stitches out! He put in extras to re enforce the wound so this doesn't happen again! Tanner's heart rate and blood pressure is a bit high, but after what he's been through today, who's wouldn't? I am sure mine has tripled since our "adventure" began!
And after all this...we were also told our stay could be extended another 2-3 weeks. I was hoping to be home for Halloween, but it looks dim. Honestly with all the procedures and pokes and ECHOS and chest xrays Tanner has been through, he comes out with a clear brain and happy attitude. What more could we ask for?
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