It was just another recovery day for Brendan today. He is still heavily sedated and very tired, and he is very puffy and still has a bloated tummy.
He did like to play while he was awake. He is happy to have his key chain.
He shakes them so hard you almost can’t see them
A PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line did get ordered for him so he made the trip to radiology this afternoon. Since this new IV in addition to the one in his hand will make him nearly impossible to hold, I got in a few hours of cuddle time.
The checkup from the surgeon was good but he does not think Brendan’s guts are ready for digestion. He cleared him to have his oral medications but he wants to wait two more days before he can have any food. So the TPN starts tonight to give him the nutrition that he needs to grow and heal.
Trevor had a good day at home with Gramma. I am not sure why, but Trevor had to test fit a “naughty step” today.
Trevor is not naughty! He just has a little secret…
All this time I have been watching and waiting for the top two teeth to pop through. He has been miserable teething but they just weren’t showing up. Imagine my surprise when I look in his mouth and there is another bottom tooth! Not only is the left one popped through, but the right one looks like it is only a day or two away.
Since Brendan’s top two teeth have not cut in yet (they sure should be any day now!), that means that Trevor takes the lead in the tooth race. He is going to celebrate with a cold one (chewy hammer that is).
Add on to yesterday’s post with the photos from my real camera:
These are the pictures in the pre-op waiting room. The last images of the poop bag! Good riddance!
Chomping on his glow thumb, he really found that to be fascinating
Still on leftover anesthesia and happy meds, smiling funny
These are the Trevor pictures from yesterday (surgery day)
While Trevor waited, he wrote a touching get well letter for his brother
“Hey! This is private stuff!!”
Trevor just played in jail all day
He likes to play with baby jail from the outside!
So cute! He mimics well!
And now on to today…
Trevor had enough jail, and decided to do some new exploring in to the deep dark basement of the jungle.
Brendan had a very hard night. His little body is so tolerant to pain meds and sedation, he kept waking up and crying. I am glad I was there all night to comfort him when he woke up. He really was scared. Today he was just miserable and had a hard time getting comfortable.
Brendan’s got a few post-op issues. The first is that any abdominal surgery makes the bowels freeze up (a lot of people experience constipation after surgery). He is not allowed to have anything (food or meds) in his tummy until they can hear bowel sounds and movement in his little gut. It is not moving yet – so he is missing all of his regular medications. Now that it is almost 2 full days, he is starting to feel the withdrawal/adjustment. He is getting morphine and ativan around the clock.
With his gut not getting food, he is feeling hungry. (IV fluids aren’t very filling) His little tummy and intestines are filling up with air and his belly is so big and bloated and uncomfortable. He needs to pass lots of gas! His other big problem is that he is not peeing at all. They have had to drain his bladder with a catheter several times. He had an abdominal xray to make sure things were OK, and then at about 7PM tonight, he finally made his own peepee pants! We all celebrated!
All of the air and iv fluid and no pee made Brendan swollen. His little belly was so hard. Right before I left tonight, he passed a couple of big giant farts and he felt better!
The new Gtube in his tummy allows his stomach to be vented. The nurses use a really big syringe to draw the air out and did it several times tonight. It just doesn’t help with the air in the intestines. They are leaving the syringe connected to vent continuously for now but they are very worried about him pulling on the new port. So he has to wear a mesh tube to cover it up. (clothes are just too hot)
Brendan also had to deal with some bleeding around his trach stoma today, the hospital circuit that attaches has so many sensors and crap that it was heavy and clunky and strained his neck badly. His trach ties were on extra tight and I think it was making his face a little puffy. Changing that out seemed to make him feel better too.
Getting his bed all fresh and more like home made him more comfortable. He was in a good mood for a short time and even smiled at trying to get the ice out of my cup.
Brendan got a visit from his old NP tonight. She joined the crowd of people saying “Oh, he is so big!”. He appreciates the cool stuff she brought and hopes to see her again when he is feeling much better.
It will be interesting tomorrow. Brendan is either going to get a PICC line and TPN or he is going to get his meds and some food through the tube in his nose. It will be a surprise. Bill is with him overnight, I hope those boys have a good sleepover and both get good rest tonight!
10:00AM – We are sitting in the surgical waiting room, they just took Brendan back a few minutes ago. The procedure could take 2-3 hours. Brendan has done so well this morning, he handled the trip to the hospital well. He was nice and smiley and playful in the pre-op room and even took a quick nap. Now we just have to wait! I have never tried to add pictures from my phone to the blog before, so this is an experiment!
Travelling Brendan:
The surgeon came and wrote some notes on his belly. He said Brendan was too chunky!
Gramma is sending me Trevor love to get through the day. He says good luck Brendan!
11:45 Brendan’s surgery is over and all is well. The ileostomy closure went beautifully. They added the port in to his side (G tube) for his new feeding tube but threading the extension to the jejunum failed. That means he has to keep his nose tube for 4-5 more weeks until the G port heals and they can try again for the extension. The G tube only goes to his stomach so he can’t use it with his severe reflux. 🙁 poor Brendan! He has to live with tape on his face that much longer.
We are waiting for him to go to his room now so we can see him.
1:45PM Brendan is resting, still heavily sedated. He will stay this way until later tonight and then he will be allowed to wake up slowly. They will just manage his pain for today and then his plan going forward will depend on how he does. He may or may not need a PICC line, he may or may not need TPN. He might be back on his home ventilator as early as tomorrow. It is all about waiting now. Brendan has the corner suite in the cardiac unit. He has now been on all three sides, this window faces east. He doesn’t look too bad either!
5:25PM – Brendan is still sedated. He woke up looking pretty miserable while the IV team was in his room poking and prodding. He is back to sleep now. Bill has gone home to Trevor and I am staying the night.
I am starting to remember all the things I hate about the hospital, the head splitting alarms being one of them.
He has been extremely popular today. Word got around that he was back and was so big. All of his old friends here had to come and see him. Too bad he was knocked out!
This is Brendan’s view this time.
There was a huge storm rolling in, you can see the edge of it!
And 10 minutes later, fierce wind and rain! It is crazy to see from the 5th floor, shame the picture can’t capture it!
I will probably do one more update late tonight, and then the Trevor update when I am home in the morning!
8:00PM – I have cute pictures on my good camera and no way to upload them tonight, I only have my phone. (The one that went swimming!!) Brendan is going to be kept calm and still through the night. He has been awake a few times and checks to see who is here. He was very happy to see Jacque the Peacock and even tried to muster up a smile. He was still pretty doped up so it looked silly.
