Good progress

We're coming home today, as soon as the paperwork is processed and finalized.  Lacey's appetite is returning, and her recovery is going well.  Thank you for your prayers.  Our good and faithful God has once again responded generously.

 

Lacey's appetite is coming back, but we're still waiting for her digestive system to finish coming back online.  She has some discomfort, probably from that as well as from the surgery.

 

She was disconnected from her pulse-ox meter, heart monitor, and IV fluids.  She still has her IV catheter; they'll remove that when it's time to go.

 

We'd like to ask for prayer for my co-worker and brother in Christ, Mike and his wife Krista.  Krista is getting a bone marrow transplant for leukemia, and they are only beginning a long, slow, trying treatment and recovery here at UCLA.  Their blog can be found at http://hopenotesfromkrista.blogspot.com/.

 

Thanks again.

Bad morning, feeling better now

Lacey had a rough morning, between post-surgical pain, discomfort, nausea, and general restlessness. She got morphine a couple of times, but it didn't help very much or for very long. She vomitted a couple times, but the last time was well before noon.

In the afternoon, she seemed to turn a corner. She was more awake and alert, smiled, laughed, and even played a little bit.

Obviously she won't be discharged today. Hopefully tomorrow.

The surgeons have indicated that since her anatomy is different after the surgery, it probably feels different when she breathes. I imagine it's a strange sensation every time she breathes, it's probably uncomfortable, and it will take some getting used to. She'll have to "re-learn" or re-coordinate some things, like the suck-breathe-swallow cycle when drinking from a bottle.

The surgeons also indicated that since her GI tract was involved in the surgery, her digestion will be on hold for a little while. We expect her appetite to come back as her little system comes back online. She has some appetite now, but can't drink much at a time.

Here is some fun proof that she turned the corner this afternoon:

And here is a picture from about 1 hour before surgery. She didn't really have to wear the hat though...

Surgery recovery

Lacey came out of surgery without any problems, and they were able to do the whole procedure laparoscopically.  She spent some time in the recovery unit, and was transferred to the pediatric floor, where we are now.

 

She has a low-grade fever, and has been groggy and a bit cranky all afternoon, which is all normal for same day post-op.  She has been able to drink clear liquids and hold them down this afternoon, but has not urinated since she came out of surgery.  She may just be dehydrated from fasting.

 

Right now she is sleeping like, well, a little baby.

Diaphragmatic hernia repair

Hello all,

We're back, blogging again! We had a nice Christmas, Lacey's first one at home!

Two weeks ago, during a follow-up appt with the cardiologist, he was suspicious of something with Lacey's lung not inflating all the way. We went to the pulmonologist, who determined that her lungs were fine, but she has a hernia in her diaphragm. There is a loop of bowel protruding through the hernia, putting some pressure on her lung. The pulmonologist wanted to get her in to surgery soon, but it was not an emergency situation.

So now we are back at UCLA. Lacey was admitted into surgery at 7:30 this morning, and so far the surgery is going well. They are able to do the procedure laparoscopically so far, which means she'll be able to come home sooner. We praise God for that answered prayer! (Of lesser importance, it also means that they are using the HD camera that I worked on!)

Lacey is at "moderate risk" for the anesthesia, because of her heart history. This was news to us this morning.

If everything goes as planned, they will extubate right after the procedure, and she will go straight to the pediatric floor and not need to go to the ICU. She will have to stay only 1 or 2 nights. However, we'll see what the Lord unfolds for us.

I just received an update. They are suturing her up, and everything is going well. Praise God! The surgeon will come and speak with us in a few minutes...

Coming home (again)

Lacey & I are coming home.  The doctors were pleased with her clinical evaluation, and her x-ray showed enough improvement to send us home.  We should be leaving UCLA within the hour...

 

Lacey is getting really fed up with taking her meds, so please pray for her cooperation and for patience and persistence for me & Gina.

 

We're still not out of the woods with her recovery from surgery, or with her pleural effusion, so let's continue to pray!

 

Nevertheless, praise God!

Another day at UCLA

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Lacey and I are still here at UCLA. They had hoped to discharge her yesterday (Thanksgiving day) but decided to keep her because even though she did very well on the I.V. meds they would be sending her home on oral meds and the doctor didn't want to see her having to come back. They changed her meds to oral yesterday and added an additional diuretic and unfortunately the effusion has worsened; not worse than the original effusion but worse than yesterday. I'm very thankful for Dr. Levy's wisdom in keeping Lacey here. Now the plan is to keep her on oral meds until the problem is moving in the right direction. Once they see that trend they will let her  go home.

 

Scott and the kids are getting ready to come down for a visit and Scott and I plan to trade off. Thanks to everyone for continuing to pray. God bless you. :)

Pleural Effusion

Wow, yesterday was quite a day. It took us over four hours to crawl through traffic and get to UCLA. Lacey was admitted through the E.R. where we waited for five hours for a bed to become available. We finally made it up to our room at around 1:30 am. Lacey and I were both exhausted and miserable...yep we had our own private pity party. Today is a new day and we are both in better spirits. Lacey has been sleeping peacefully for the past three hours and I'm guarding her like a mother bear, I'm not letting anyone touch her so that she can catch upon the five + hours of sleep that she missed out on last night.

 

So the good news is that Lacey's pleural effusion is mild and it doesn't warrant having a chest tube to drain it. The doctors think that maybe her Lasix was decreased too quickly and when it was later increased it dried her out a little and just caused a snow ball effect that gave her some trouble. They hydrated her with IV fluids last night and today she is getting Lasix by IV. Her progress will be monitored today and through the night. God willing they will send us home tomorrow morning. Oh, I really hope so!

 

Well, the past few weeks have been a roller coaster of ups and downs and yesterday I have to confess I was wallowing in the downs but today I'm overwhelmed with gratefulness for all that has gone right and that this 13 month journey is at it's end. We might have a few more blips to deal with but Lacey's surgery was a success and all of this will be behind us soon. Yippee!

 

I will try to post another update tonight or in the morning but I might not have time so I want to wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving day celebration.

Gina and the family