Back to UCLA

Gina and Lacey are headed back to UCLA as I type this. During a follow-up appt with the cardiologist this morning, she was diagnosed with pleural effusion, or liquid surrounding her left lung. That would certainly explain her difficulty breathing.

I think the plan is to do a minor surgical procedure to drain the fluid, and then monitor her response to Lasix. It could be a short visit (1-2 days), depending on how things go.

Specific prayer requests:

• Safe travel to UCLA. Gina will get there in the dark and in the rain. It's bad enough on the LA freeway and Westwood without bad weather.
• An available bed. Initial phone calls to UCLA indicated that there were no beds available. Gina will be able to room-in with Lacey, whether she's on the pediatric floor or in the ICU.
• Grace, peace, and joy for each of us. It's hard to be separated so abruptly.
• Discernment of the Lord's will and plan in this trial.
• To be home for Thanksgiving dinner, if He permits...

Thank you for your prayers, once again.

This is a picture of Lacey from this afternoon. You can see the toll that the pleural effusion is taking on her -- NOT! She is such a cheerful baby, even when she has to work harder just to breathe. What a trooper.

Coming home

Gina and Lacey are on their way home.  Lacey responded beautifully to the increased Lasix doses and shed the excess fluid in her lungs.  She is now breathing easier and doing better.  Praise God for His faithfulness, and thank you again for your prayers!

A few more details

Cottage is primarily watching Lacey for signs of heart failure.  Gina was not aware of a treatment plan.  While it could be discouraging that they are watching for signs of heart failure, I take it as a good sign that they are merely watching, because it means they haven't found any signs of heart failure.  Her pulse was a bit high earlier tonight (150's) and her O₂ saturation was a bit low (90%), but these by themselves do not indicate heart failure.  Her retractions were back to a level that is normal for her.

 

God is good, and He is faithful.

At Cottage SB tonight

Lacey (and Gina) will be at SB Cottage Hospital tonight for observation and a few diagnostic tests.

Recent events

Things have been going really well since we got home.  Lacey has been recovering nicely, coping with the pain and discomfort of her surgical site like a real trooper.  Occasionally, she has been grunting a bit when at rest and otherwise comfortable.  On Sunday afternoon (11/16), we noticed her first tooth coming through!  So add teething pain to her surgical pain.  Her appetite had been adequate, but not great.  Plus Jeremy and Scott are sick.

 

On Tuesday (11/18), the local cardiologist cut her Lasix from 16 mg/day to 6 mg/day.  He was not concerned about the grunting or fussiness, between the surgery being so recent and the teething.

 

Since then, we have noticed her breathing becoming more and more labored ("retractions"), and her appetite waning.  We had some routine follow-up appts at UCLA yesterday (11/21), and in general they were not very concerned about her symptoms.  With all the compounded circumstances (teething, sickness in the family), they figured it was as expected.

 

There was not much change through the night last night.  This morning Lacey was pretty mucousy.  Gina decided to take her to the pediatrician.  Our pediatrician is not working today, and the one there decided that she should go to E.R. as a precaution, since they would have the host of specialists available.  Gina is in her way there now.  They may want to increase the Lasix again and observe her overnight.

 

Please pray for grace for Lacey, wisdom for the doctors, and peace for us.

Home

We got home at 9:00 tonight (Wednesday). It's nice to be home, even after a "short" time away like this one.

Going Home day 5

So it looks like they are sending Lacey home today. She did very well last night and didn't need any pain medication. She's not quite her happy go lucky self yet but she has been smiling, laughing and playing a little from time to time. I'm sure each day will get better and better from here on out.

 

We spoke with the cardiologist today and he is very happy with how Lacey's heart repair looks; he said that the valve division looks excellent with very minimal leaking. It doesn't sound like the leaking is an issue but there is no guarantee that it won't require surgery later. Time will tell but one thing is sure, we have so much to be thankful for. No need to wait for Thanksgiving day. :)