Friday, November 6, 2009

Post Op Day #4

As you can tell, our little man is just not feeling well. They stopped the morphine all together and wanted to start him on Motrin. I voiced my concerns that he probably wouldn't take that just like all of the other meds. They decided to try Toradol instead and it is proving to be better for him on the pain front. He seems to have better pain control and his blood pressure is starting to come down. He is really struggling with taking ANY of his meds orally. I am not sure what they are going to do when he will either spit out or throw up his meds.




Ethan's x-ray this morning looked good so they felt that they could remove all 3 chest tubes. This was really painful, but as always he handled it like a trooper. He just cried out the word "Ow!" with each tube removal but didn't cry once. Since his tubes were removed, they really wanted us to get him up and walking. You could just see the pain in his face when he took his first few steps. He was really weak and wobbly. We've gotten him up about 4 times tonight to walk and once we took him to the playroom. As you can see from the pictures, he wasn't too thrilled.


The best news of the night is he had his first smile in 4 days!!! Tim had to act like a complete idiot to make it happen (but that's nothing new hee, hee). It was a fleeting smile and was followed a scowl but it was a smile nonetheless. He must be feeling at least a little bit better to get a smile, right? I hope we are turning a corner.
---Allison



7 comments:

The Hood's said...

Oh I love that smile! Even if it only lasted for .3 seconds! He really is a trooper, and soon will be begging to get up and play! Lots of prayers still coming your way!

carolyn q said...

That's the beginning to many wonderful smiles to come.
I am praying that things will just get better and better for this little guy.
(HUGS)

Ty and Ber said...

He is a trooper. Seriously, I can believe what he has dealt with on little/no pain meds? We have vag deliveries who are begging for the Perc every 4. And let's be honest, a vag del isl like a paper cut compared to what ethan has gone through.

I'm glad that you guys were able to see that fleeting smile. Hopefully you guys will see more smiles soon.

Ty and Ber said...

That was suppose to say I CAN'T believe....

Allison said...

Yay for a smile! Poor little guy, sounds like the post surgery is far worse than the surgery itself! Have they found any of the flavorings from the out patient pharmacy that make the Loratab any better for him? You might have to go get it yourself and mix it for him, but one of our post Fontan toddler bedmates in the PICU finally started taking her meds when her parents got a jug of wild cherry flavor to mix with the nasty tasting meds. Worth a try?? Good luck!

Fowers Family said...

Allison, he really looks so good! Keep up the good work and remember take care of yourself too! What is the news on the poop??? Patiently waiting for poop! Jody

Melissa said...

It is so hard that our kids never want to take their med orally after surgery! So frustrating since it would make their lives so much easier. He looks so great!