Post-Surgery Updates

A few people asked if blood donations are still needed. The answer is YES. Jane has what she needs for right now, and they won’t send us blood for her all the way up to Northern Cal. But there are other newborns and children at CHOC that do need donators. So if you do have 15 minutes, you’d be helping someone else tremendously. Plus, you’ll get a cookIe.

Jane: post-op is still a bit shaky. Her heart rate is high, kidneys and liver are a concern, and she’s not getting rid of her fluids, so she’s very swollen. Her blood pressure is a bit high also. So tonight they got her back on pain sedatives, because some of these symptoms might indicate discomfort. Probably true, she just had life-saving surgery.

Good news is doctors did warn us of probable instability for first 72 hours after surgery, maybe even longer, since Jane IS very small and very sick. They told us a couple times that she’s one of the most critical, if not THE most critical, out of all 158 youngsters.

But the doctors are world-class, and God’s on our side, and I can take that all the way to the bank.

I’m going to try sleeping now.

A Few Steps Backwards

Rounds with the Drs this morning was NOT what we were hoping for. Jane’s Dr. has suggested that she is taking steps backwards instead of showing signs of improvement. She said that Jane may be having some other issues with her heart and, in turn, is affecting the function of her liver and other organs. She is having an echocardiogram this morning (heart ultrasound) that will tell the docs what is actually going in with her heart. This will hopefully rule out any further complications (at least that is what I am hoping for). In the meantime, it is urgent that they try to drain the fluids from her body. She has an overload of fluids in her body that can also be causing some of the current problems. They discontinued her pain meds and paralytic yesterday in hopes that she will begin to move a bit, which will also help to reduce the fluid in her body. No movement yet!

My poor baby- this cycle seems never-ending……

***On a better note, I cleaned her up a bit yesterday and gave her a sponge bath. At least while she lays there helpless she can look as cute and clean as possible 🙂

So Jane’s R side of heart isn’t being used; surgeons took it out of use the other day. Her L side is doing all the work. Now, there are complications with that.

The thing is, surgery was successful, but everything afterwards has been a complete mess.

So they’re talking about getting Jane on dialysis to reduce her swelling. In the meantime, they’re going to try different diuretics and test out some blood products to jump start those kidneys.

Praise the Lord for PEE!!!

After a HORRIBLE day, Daniel and I were finally able to have a tiny sigh of relief…..Jane finally peed. Her kidneys were showing great signs of failure, but it looks like they might be making a come back. The docs are not planning on changing any meds or treatments for the night. They want to keep her vitals stable and balanced and give her kidneys a chance to recover on their own. Like they keep saying…when Jane is ready to move forward then they will re-evaluate her treatment therapies and consider giving her medications that will help the kidneys.

Jane still hasn’t moved or opened her eyes, yet. Even though they have discontinued the paralytic and sedative she still has major fluid overload which suggests that the meds are hanging out in her body. Once she is able to excrete the extra fluid then the meds will flow out and hopefully she will wake up.

Praying for a restful and healing night for Jane and a better day for me and Daniel tomorrow.