Day 7 at Denver Children's Hospital

Warning: random unorganized thoughts ahead:

Today was a LONG day... I started out this morning being told by our resident doctor Sarah that there was more to the CT scan than originally told to me the night before- that there was consolidation (gunking and clogging) in the lower right lung as well as some of the lung not receiving blood and parts of the lung dying because of it. We then waited around for rounds and were told the same thing. They kept him in Pre-op all day which means he couldn't have a single bit of food or drink. During the night last night, his chest drain machine stopped working right, and nothing was draining anymore from his lung. They replaced the machine and nothing. They decided to try a procedure where they shoot medicine into the tube to unclog it. The first time, nothing. The second time, nothing, until 3 hours later. In the meantime around 3:00 we were given an operating time of 7:00pm. The resident surgeon had me sign consent forms. I had my soda and purse in hand to go to the waiting room. A very sweet lady with Child Life Specialists came and explained to Kameron what would happen during his surgery. He was so scared this morning of that word. He didn't understand what it meant, but knew it was scary. He felt much better after Sandy helped him understand. At 6:30 (when we were supposed to be heading to pre-op), our nurse called in that his drain had sucked 175 CCs in just an hour and a half (that's a lot!!!) So they called off the surgery and are watching his dumpage. It's crazy how much fluid is draining out right now. It's a good thing. One of the surgeons guessed that there was 900 CCs in there so we'll see in the morning how much comes out. This is great news. His little lung is very fragile right now and there are some risks for doing surgery. They want to avoid it if at all possible.

So here's the plan: I think: The nurses watch output very closely tonight. If it slows again, they do the flush again. Everyone reconvenes in the morning to decide what's next. There is still the possibility of surgery, but if he'll keep draining, he will get better. His fevers are still persistent and his breathing is still hindered. He's in quite a bit of pain today. He didn't move around, and he couldn't eat.

He finally got to eat about 8:00. He had Ramen noodles and goldfish crackers. His tummy got really upset, but that settled down and he ate one of my chicken nuggets and a few fries (thanks Kristi).

So--- from what I can tell, the drain started working right as our ward prayer calling chain began. What a blessing and testimony that our Heavenly Father is there for us and hears our prayers. I can feel all of your prayers and I know that the Lord is here with Kameron and me. One of our first nurses talked about guardian angels being all around us in this very special hospital and I believe that completely. Thank you for your prayers and the fast coming up Sunday. Anyone who would like to join in a fast for our little man Sunday, the more the better.

Love you all so much,

Joey