Our internet access is back up, so I don't have to post this one from my BlackBerry, as I did last night. Unfortunately, I still don't have much in the way of news to report.
Andrew has been behaving well...there haven't been any major changes on his settings. He's stable enough that they're going twelve hours between blood gas tests, which is up from 4-6 hours. His feeds are staying at a pretty low volume, partly because he doesn't seem to be moving much through his system. That could be partly due to the sedation/paralysis, and we certainly hope it's not another digestive blockage. We'll see how he progresses over the next couple of days.
The surgeon came by and took a look at him this morning. We're not sure what she was looking for or whether anything was decided...the nurse didn't know and we didn't talk to a doctor or social worker today. This surgeon is not the one who did his previous surgeries, because the lung resection requires a different specialty. She's a cardiothoracic (heart and other chest organs) surgeon, and will be assisted by another CT surgeon. Since they're focusing entirely on the lung and ignoring the stomach for now, it should be a relatively straightforward procedure...not short or easy, but straightforward. From what we've heard, they'll have to dissect out the portion of the lung that is to be removed without affecting the blood flow in the arteries going past it. The lower lobe of the lung will be left intact, so they want to make sure it has all the blood it needs. The second surgeon will be there mainly to assist and to deal with any issues that crop up (bleeding, etc).
We drove up to LA on Saturday afternoon for a USC football game. We were somewhat hesitant to leave home, because of the long time commitment, the distance from SD, the notoriously bad cellular coverage at the Coliseum, the every-three-hours logistical considerations, and a boatload of work that I have to finish by Monday. Despite the many reasons to skip it, I'm very happy we went. We had a great time with D's brother and girlfriend, really enjoyed the game, and managed to get there and back without any major incidents, either on the road or at the hospital. It was nice to get away, if even for the afternoon.
About Me
- JR
- D's husband. Andrew's dad. Son, friend, cousin, nephew, grandson....the list goes on.
About This Blog
This blog was originally created to disseminate information about Andrew, our son who was born on June 15, 2007. Andrew was born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) that allowed abdominal organs (stomach, intestines, etc) to migrate into his chest cavity during development. This prohibited normal lung growth, making it difficult for him to live without significant life support, including a ventilator, a lung bypass machine called ECMO, and a long list of medications.
Andrew spent the next five months at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, undergoing multiple operations for the hernia repair, intestinal rearrangement, stomach tube insertion, etc. Multiple attempts to help him breathe on his own without a ventilator were unsuccessful due to a number of anatomical and developmental difficulties. Andrew's failure to progress and an abundance of overwhelmingly unfavorable test results led us to remove him from life support and let nature take its course on November 19, 2007.
We greatly appreciate the time we were able to spend with Andrew, and this blog continues as a source for information, a tribute to his memory, and a continuation of our lives without him present. From the emotional to the mundane, our lives have been forever changed by his presence; those lives are now chronicled here.
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