Today, Grair is celebrating his four-month birthday! He has gone through more than many of us will our entire life, and yet continues to be strong and resilient. Beginning yesterday, his oral feeds have drastically increased. A few of the feeds were at his pre-RSV levels, which offers us great hope that this aneurysm was the cause for all of his issues. By Thursday, when we take Grair to Dr. Hammel’s for his post-op follow-up, we are...
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Dr. Hammel released Grair this afternoon, and about two hours ago we arrived back home with a new baby! Grair has no oxygen, and no feeding tube. It’s great to be home, and we look forward to growing with our “new” Grair.
Grair is doing great. His chest tube and pacer wires came out this morning. A pacemaker was never used; the wires are simply put in for convenience if needed. His chest tube was used for drainage of extra fluids around the lungs. Grair is in what is called the “intermediate” stage. This means he is no longer in need of intensive care, and would normally move the 5th floor. However, the 5th floor is full, and four other kids are on...
Around 5:45 this morning, Grair was extabated (had the breathing tube removed). Since then, wires, sensors, and IV lines have quickly been removed since Grair has been able to recover nicely. He is on no medications related to the surgery and is on the fast-track to be completely recovered. He continues to use a little oxygen, but much less than was needed at home prior to surgery. This tells that his lungs and heart need a few more hours to get...
Grair’s heart repair went very smooth. The time it took and the complications were minimal. Our nurse just stopped in to let us know that Grair is off bypass, and that Dr. Hammel is doing the final tasks before closing him up. They fixed the aneurysm and replaced the valve. In about an hour or so, he’ll be taken back up to the PICU to begin recovery. His breathing tube is still in; in an hour or so they will determine if it needs to...
The surgery went as expected, even without knowing what to expect. Dr. Hammel went in and removed the aneurysm by removing the scar tissue. He continues to believe that this aneurysm was completely causing the lung issue. The cause of the aneurysm has yet to be determined. In previous cases, Dr. Hammel has seen this caused by an infection. After multiple culture tests and visual analysis of the aneurysm, Dr. Hammel doesn’t believe this was...
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