Like Gary said Landon has been sleeping a lot, which is good. Hopefully it will help him recover quickly. He has been upset some when he wakes up, sometimes because he's hungry, sometimes he's in pain, sometimes it's a combination or we're not really sure which it is so we treat him like it's both. We were told he'd be more fussy after this surgery than the last one because since his body is getting used to the new flow, there will be more pressure in his head for a little while and it might give him headaches. He's on tylenol and basically a "strong ibuprofen" right now with the occasional morphine as needed.
In rounds this morning they said he will come down some on his oxygen (down to a 1/2 liter per minute, he was on 1/4 at home so almost back to "normal".) We'd be thrilled if he could come off of it completely before going home but we won't hold our breath on that. He will likely get his chest tubes out later today or tomorrow morning, at which point he'd probably be moved from the CICU to the CPCU (Cardiac progressive care unit) which is a step down unit.
When he wakes up and is hungry he gets upset pretty quick but usually calms down some once he eats. We haven't picked him up to hold him yet, not because we can't, but when he wakes up so hungry it's just not worth the extra time (and potential discomfort for him) it takes to get him out of his bed and into our arms with all the wires and stuff. I'm sure we'll hold him soon, but right now we're content to just sit him up on bed and let him eat and then go back to sleep. He got his catheter out this morning so that is one less thing that is uncomfortable.
One possibly concern is that his heart rate has been on the low side and has had times where it takes dips down into the 80s (normal heart rate for him is 110-160). Apparently this is not uncommon for after this surgery, but they did an EKG just a little while ago to make sure everything was ok and we haven't heard a result from that yet. We're glad he's just sleeping away most of the time and getting some good rest!
In rounds this morning they said he will come down some on his oxygen (down to a 1/2 liter per minute, he was on 1/4 at home so almost back to "normal".) We'd be thrilled if he could come off of it completely before going home but we won't hold our breath on that. He will likely get his chest tubes out later today or tomorrow morning, at which point he'd probably be moved from the CICU to the CPCU (Cardiac progressive care unit) which is a step down unit.
When he wakes up and is hungry he gets upset pretty quick but usually calms down some once he eats. We haven't picked him up to hold him yet, not because we can't, but when he wakes up so hungry it's just not worth the extra time (and potential discomfort for him) it takes to get him out of his bed and into our arms with all the wires and stuff. I'm sure we'll hold him soon, but right now we're content to just sit him up on bed and let him eat and then go back to sleep. He got his catheter out this morning so that is one less thing that is uncomfortable.
One possibly concern is that his heart rate has been on the low side and has had times where it takes dips down into the 80s (normal heart rate for him is 110-160). Apparently this is not uncommon for after this surgery, but they did an EKG just a little while ago to make sure everything was ok and we haven't heard a result from that yet. We're glad he's just sleeping away most of the time and getting some good rest!
so glad he is doing well! will keep praying that it continues! we love you and are thinking of you a ton even though we are an ocean away!
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