Day 10

The doctors came by this morning and said they would give the chest tube 24 more hours for drainage to stay where it’s at or lessen. If it does they will take the tube and pacemaker out tomorrow. If all goes well tomorrow with the EKG, echo and chest x-ray… Gavin will be discharged to the hotel on Saturday. Then we wait a week at the hotel and return for an appointment. If all goes well, we could be heading home in a week and a half to two weeks! Woo hoo!!!

Gavin threw up a little bit this morning before breakfast. He threw up again this afternoon when we took him to the playroom. Gavin has not wanted much to eat today, so I am thinking it is the meds on a empty stomach that causes him to throw up. We are waiting to hear what the doctor thinks about it. He is less energetic today then he was yesterday... not wanting to get up and play or eat much. His potassium levels are going up so that is great news.

I will update again when I hear from the doctors this afternoon. Keep up the prayers, we are so ready to get discharged... even if it's only to the hotel. I hate hospitals!!!

Pictures from yesterday

Day 8

Faith here- sorry for the late update. Today I have been very busy with a more active two year old. Gavin did not vomit over night or today during the day. The drs are allowing him to have banana, rice, applesauce and toast. He had bites of each and kept it down all day. He still has a lot of drainage coming out of his tube and still no bowel movement. After blood work, they discovered Gavin's potassium levels are very low-which is not good for his heart at all-so they started him on a potassium drip. It wasn't any better tonight so they had to give him an oral boost. Guess what? He vomited it all up! They really don't think the vomiting will continue, its just the amount he had to have along with his other nightly oral meds. Adam said he is still a happy guy. He was in the best mood today, chatting it up with me. We took a ride in the wagon again and played in the playroom for about 10 minutes before he was ready to go back "nite nite". Today he looked down at his chest and said "Dr. Peter fix me, I fine." Totally made me cry. Please pray that we all stay well, there was a line out to the street from the ER tonight. Everyone was wearing masks. It is all over the news here about the swine flu. I am off to bed, will post more pictures tomorrow.

This is the sign going into the cafeteria...

So this is how we are doing breakfast and lunch. Dr. Peter was giving 16 hours from this afternoon to poop and get better (vomiting) or he was going to plan B. Gavin needs your prayers. Thank you for your encouragement. We will let you know how it plays out tomorrow! Mitzi

Monday 4/27 Update

Faith here- So yesterday was a bad day... I finally hit my breaking point and lost it. Let me fill you in on what happened. Gavin has a team of doctors, all different, with all different opinions and techniques for how they care for the patient. All day yesterday a new doctor would come in with their opinion. One would say "let's get him up and walking today"... another "let's keep him resting". "Give him fluids", "don't give him fluids", "give him zofran", "why is he on zofran?", "he needs a CT scan", "he doesn't need a CT"... I think you get the drift now.

Gavin ended up having a CT scan yesterday to r/o hydrocephalus. Gavin has a history of seizures and enlarged ventricles in the brain. Gavin slept ALL day yesterday and only woke up to vomit or cry with irritability. So basically they wanted to rule out the unknown. Praise God there is no hydrocephalus, just mild enlarged ventricles.

Dr. P said the main concerns now are for Gavin to have a bowel movement, to urinate on his own (they have plans to remove the catheter today), to get the chest tube to quit draining- he drained over 500 mls during the day shift yesterday, which is a lot. He has already put out a 100 this morning. They also want the vomiting to stop, for Gavin's blood pressure to come down and for Gavin to have more energy. They are starting him on a new blood pressure medicine today to see if that helps with the vomiting issue also. It's so important for Gavin to absorb his medicines, especially his seizure meds, we do not want him to have a seizure.

Once they allow Gavin to start eating he will be on a low fat diet. We met with a dietitian yesterday and she gave us all the rules. He will be on the diet for 6 more weeks after we come home. There was a lot to digest yesterday and I became very frustrated with Gavin's situation. I hate seeing him so miserable. I think we all got our hopes up with him doing so well the day after surgery and now that he is regressing it's a real bummer.

To add to the stress the hospital is on lock down now for who knows how long. There are four known cases of the swine flu here and they want to keep the patients healthy. They are swabbing the patients daily to check for more cases. I completely understand the reasoning but it's hard to not have the help and support of our family now. Adam is at the hotel sleeping and will come up here tonight to stay again. This shift seems to be working out the best because I get so nauseous (from the pregnancy) at night. So it's just me and Gavin (who is currently sound asleep- see the picture?) for the day.

Again, we are humbled by your prayers and support. Thanks for all of the cards, emails and gifts for Gavin.

Thank you for your prayers!!! Things are better. Dr. Peter came to the hospital and checked everything out. Gavin is resting and Adam is staying all night at the hospital again. We took Faith to eat and she is going to sleep now and go back early in the morning. We will give details tomorrow but it was a stressful day and we really needed the extra prayers!!! Faith and Adam thank you and love and appreciate you! Mitzi

Please pray

Faith and Adam could really use your prayers right now. Gavin has still been vomiting. I'm not going into a lot of detail because I don't want to get anything wrong but I do ask for your prayers for some answers and for peace for Faith and Adam. Faith is very upset right now and needs some peace. Mitzi

Sunday Morning Update

Faith here- Gavin is still having some vomiting today. The doctors were concerned that he was not absorbing his seizure medicine and got neurology involved to keep an eye on him. Gavin has slept most of the last two days. Specific prayers are for more bowel movements, vomiting to stop, and more energy! His chest tube is also still draining a lot of fluid. Dr. Peter reassures us that this is all a part of the process and Gavin will get better with time. Thanks for the continued support!

Correction

I am sorry...I made a mistake about the IV. They stopped the IV fluids for the day...Gavin still has the central line in. Thanks! Mitzi

Poop Parade

Faith and Adam told Gavin that if he went to the bathroom they would give him a ride in the wagon. Well, as you read earlier he went. Then he went again. You can ask Faith for the details! Gavin is still vomiting but the Dr.'s keep assuring her that he is doing well. They took the IV out today. Wendy (Dr. Peter's wife) came to the hospital again today and is a great source of support for Faith and Adam. Hopefully tomorrow Gavin will start holding down liquids. He already looks so much better tonight. I will try to give better updates tomorrow. It's been a really busy day !!!! Thank you for your support! Mitzi

Gavin finally had a little bowel movement. Praise God! But it was just a little one. Faith said he screamed like he was giving birth. I'm sure the poor guy was in a lot of pain. They took him off of the IV and are going to give him milk of magnesia. He's still vomiting and is very irritable. Hopefully he will have some more poop this afternoon! Thanks for all of your comments and prayers. Mitzi

A picture is worth a 1,000 words...

This picture pretty much sums up how Gavin feels this morning. Still no bowel movement. Last night Dr. Peter came back up to the hospital (he was not on call) and spent some time with Faith and Adam. He explained to them that he still feels that Gavin is doing well. The intestinal issues are not uncommon. Dr. Peter and his wife have given Faith their cell phone numbers and have told her to call them at any time. I feel sure that Dr. Peter will be back up here before the day is over. Gavin still has fluid draining and had dry heaves last night. They have given him something for nausea so we are hoping that will pass soon. Gavin is asking for milk, water or juice. He can't have anything to drink right now. Continue to pray for the obvious and also for family members here with Faith and Adam. Thank you for your support of this precious little guy! Mitzi

Thank You!

Gavin wants to give a big thanks to his daddy's boss MK (and family), and co-workers. He loves his new elephant, monkey, hippo and safari toys. Definitely brightened his day. Also, thank you to his heart buddy Daric for his new monkey with banana, spider man balloon, and coloring book. Look Aunt Patti, I am cuddling up to the Cars blanket you made me!


Thank you everyone... it means a lot that you care so much about our son!

Frogs jumping in the water

I just got back to the waiting room after being in Gavin's room for a while. The cardiologist on call for the weekend came in and seemed extremely nice and assured Faith that everything seemed "normal" for someone having MAJOR surgery 2 days ago. He still has not had a bowel movement. Since they have put the cath in he has had a lot of urine. His eyes were swollen earlier today and they already have gone down some. His fever is a little lower. They keep telling us that after he poops he will be a new guy. Kristen and Kate came in while I was in Gavin's room and asked him what he had been dreaming about. Gavin said "frogs jumping in water". He seems to dream about frogs a lot! Pray that he will get a good nights rest and that he will poop. I hope this is the last time that I have to blog about it. Thank you for your prayers and kind words. Faith and Adam feel extremely blessed and send their love to all of you! Mitzi

This was taken a few minutes ago

Also today

Gavin's room #318

Last night a volunteer who plays the harp for patients. He was actually very good!

Yesterday in the waiting room

Yesterday when Gavin went on his 2nd walk. If you look closely you might be able to make him out at the end of the hall

Another update

Faith just came to the waiting room and said that Gavin had thrown up again and it had blood in it. They have called Dr. Peter. He also has developed a fever. Still no bowel movement. The catheter relieved his bladder. Will update soon. Mitzi

Update

Gavin is in the process of having an xray to see what's going on with his intenstines. After that they will be putting a cath in. I will let you know what's going on as soon as I know. Mitzi

We need your prayers

Gavin is having some problems with his intestines. If he doesn't urinate within the next hour he will have to get a catheter. If he doesn't have a bowel movement within the next hour they will do an xray to rule out a blockage. He is really miserable right now. We believe in the power of prayer and know our prayer warriors are going to take care of this! Thank you!!!! Mitzi

Rough day...

Gavin is having a rough morning so far. He is in a lot of pain. The doctors are on top of it so we are feeling confident that this is just a little bump in the road. This picture is from this morning. Gavin really could use your prayers this morning!!! Thank you. Mitzi

Morning update-Prayers for poop

Gavin was moved to the intermediate floor last night. Adam stayed at the hospital and let Faith get a good nights sleep at the hotel. Joe is in the process of taking Faith to the hospital and bringing Adam back. The girls got here last night and Aunt Tara was soooo nice and sent homemade sugar cookies in the shape of a heart!!!! Thanks Aunt Tara!!!! We have been craving your delicious cookies. We (anyone other than Faith and Adam) are not allowed into the room before 8 am so we will be there right at 8. Kristen and Kate can't wait to see Gavin.

We need prayers for poop!!! Adam said that they were going to catheter Gavin if he had not urinated by 3 am. Thank goodness he did pee pee before then. But...Gavin needs to have a bowel movement. He has been vomiting too. They did a chest xray this mornin and he has a little fluid in his left lung. Please pray hard today that Gavin will get over this little bump. Emotions are up and down. Thank you for your prayers!!! Mitzi

Marathon Man

Gavin took a long nap after his walk. We all got to take turns watching him nap. Trenna and I were with him when he woke up and he drank a carton of milk and we read a book to him. His mommy and daddy came in and they got him up and he walked twice as far as he did earlier. Did you get that?!? HE WALKED THE FLOOR AGAIN! He was just moved to the intermediate floor. He still needs to poop! Your prayers are working so please keep them up!!! Thank you! Mitzi