We're Home

We got a call last night asking us if we could come in earlier this morning since the case before us got canceled due to a fever. So, instead of our 9:00 appointment, we showed up at 7:00 instead. It made for an early morning but was worth it since we were discharged by 5 pm.

First of all, thank you for all of your prayers and well wishes. I don't think I realize how stressed out and emotional I am until I find myself getting choked up and tearful from all of your kind thoughts and words.

As far as the actual procedure goes, it went well. There were no complications and he was out of the cath lab a lot sooner than we had been told. Dr. Cowley performed the cath (he did his last one as well) and said that Ethan's function looks good and that his lung pressures were low. What that means, is that he is healthy enough to have the Fontan. He went on to tell us that he has never seen a repair as well done as his. We are so blessed to have had Dr. Hawkins as our surgeon and I am terribly saddened that he won't be performing Ethan's Fontan.

After the echo and the cath, we spent the next 5 1/2 hours in recovery to watch for bleeding or other possible complications (they put catheters in both his groin and neck this time). He was supposed to lay flat this whole time, but the truth of the matter was Ethan was agitated, grumpy, and pulling all of the cuffs, lines, and monitors off of him. They finally took everything off (since it wasn't going to stay on anyway) but left his IV. He kept pulling at it and would break down in tears when we would scold him or tell him that he couldn't have it out yet. In light of seeing all of this, I am very scared for the Fontan. Ethan just wanted to be held, but was not comfortable or content when being held. I don't know how he'll react when he'll be in a lot more pain and with more lines and tubes to contend with. I just hope they keep him pretty sedated until we can hold him. I can tell already that this is not going to be pretty.

Anyway, here are some pictures of today. Thank you again for your kind words and support.

This was taken in pre-op. He was having a great time blowing bubbles and didn't really have too many cares at this point.

He LOVED the wagon! In fact, he wanted to ride in the wagon to go home and we couldn't find one. He was VERY sad and didn't want to go home. Needless to say, Tim is at WalMart with Ethan buying a wagon. I think he earned it today.

They gave him some Versed to calm him down (he was climbing all over the place and was seeming anxious). He spit out the oral dose, so they gave him a nasal dose instead. They said that even though they put it in his nose, it leaves a bitter after taste. He obviously wasn't a fan.

However, AFTER the Versed was given, he was obviously a BIG fan!

Sorry, this picture is crooked. Ethan insisted on holding his own oxygen mask up to his face. He would put it on like it was supposed to be, but he would also put it up to his ear like he was talking on the phone (which didn't help his oxygen levels much).

He only threw up once. But as you can see, he wasn't a happy camper.

After a couple of hours, he started to perk up a little bit and was acting a little more like himself.

But as you can see, it didn't last for very long. This was the look he gave the nurse after she took out his IV.

All in all, it was a good day (for what is was anyway) and we're glad to be home.

---Allison