We're home

We made it home just a few hours ago! We are all thrilled to have everyone home safe and sound. Blake squealed with delight when he got inside the house and the boys were obviously happy to be back together. They're now snug in their beds. It was really cute to hear them talking to each other before they fell asleep.

We were a little worried last night -- Blake was having some trouble with dehydration, but we got that under control. He is still pretty weak and bruised, but just so happy to be home. We should be back at the park (but taking it easy) by the end of next week.

Hopefully, we will all get a good night's sleep.

Thanks again to everyone for their support.

Kristen and Bill.

Here are a few pictures from Today -- the first is of Blake right after we got home, and the second of Aiden today at the park with his grandparents.

Not so fast...

Update: It now looks like we are not going to get out of here tomorrow after all. Blake's chest tube drainage has increased. His drainage has to be less than 10-20 mls/ day. It had been down in that range, but he drained about 80 mls yesterday. Now we hope to get out of here on Saturday. Bummer.

We should be out of here soon!

Blake is progressing much faster than expected, so we should be released tomorrow! Today he will have a chest X-ray, an echocardiogram, an EKG, and he should get his chest tube out. His spirits have improved tremendously, and we pretty much have our old Blake back! I think Mimi and Cap'n Eddy will be happy to have Aiden back in his own bed. Since Sunday, Aiden has been fighting a virus that has given him a pretty high fever, so he has not slept well and neither have Mim and Cap'n Eddy. I think they had forgotten what it is like to have a squirmy toddler in the bed with them. Thanks again for all your support, and I will try to post some pictures later this morning. Kristen and Bill.

We've moved up!

We moved to the step-down unit late yesterday evening, so things are progressing very well. They took three more lines out -- the central veinous line, the arterial line, and one of the IVs. They had to pull the IV because Blake had developed some vasculitis, a reaction in his vein to something they put in the IV somewhere along the line.

One of our major hurdles is that Blake's throat is really sore and swollen from the endotracheal tube for the respirator. He had a few treatments to try to reduce the swelling in his throat, but he still has no interest in eating or drinking. He did manage to eat part of a popsicle last night (the rest ended up on his dressing), but that is all he has had so far.

Every morning, Blake has to have a chest X-ray and a blood draw. Up until today, they could use the arterial line, but since that is gone, today they have to draw the old fashioned way. The first phlebotomist couldn't get any blood, so the second one is on his way up. Not fun for anyone.

This surgery has been so much easier than Blake's first -- he is recovering much more easily. Hopefully we will be out of the hospital in three or so days.

We really appreciate all of your good wishes for Blake's rapid recovery. Thanks. Kristen and Bill

First Night

Blake did well his first night after surgery. He was extubated at 2am when he almost accomplished the task himself. Most of the night was spent in the night nurse's arms or Mom's arms as he was not willing to relax in the bed. He had the foley removed so it is back to wetting the diapers.
Morning rounds came and went with only encouraging reports. May be able to pull the chest tube and the central jugular line later today. A move out of the CVICU is possible tonight or tomorrow.
As I write this missive Blake is somewhat awake -- opiates are working their magic-- and in the arms of his Mom. He has no interest in food or water.

He's out and doing well!

Blake's surgery went great! He is now in the cardiovascular ICU (CVICU) where he will be for the next couple of days. It should be a fairly quiet night -- tomorrow will be much busier. We are thrilled he is doing so well.

Blake's in surgery

Blake's surgery started about an hour and a half ago -- at around 2:15. We are expecting to hear something in about 3-4 more hours.

Blake was a real trooper. He hadn't had anything to eat since 6:00 yesterday evening, and was only allowed jello and apple juice up until 8:30 this morning. Just as he was starting to start digging through the backpack looking for food, they gave him a little cocktail -- it made him pretty loopy and then he forgot all about food.

When he comes out of surgery we expect Blake to have tubes coming out everywhere -- a central line in his neck, and an arterial line, plus two IVs. He will also be on a ventilator and have chest tubes coming out of him. We expect that Blake will be kept sedated for the next day or two, and as they start pulling some of the tubes out of him they will begin to let him wake up.

Here's a recent picture of the boys. Aiden is on the left and Blake is on the right.

Blake's upcoming surgery

Blake's repair of his coarctation of the aorta is scheduled for Monday July 10th. We are supposed to be at Lucile Packard (Stanford's children's hospital) at 11:30 with surgery scheduled for 1 pm. A coarctation of the aorta is a narrowing of the aorta, the main blood vessel that supplies oxygenated blood to his whole body. Blake's narrowing is in the transverse portion of the aortic arch, where the carotid arteries branch from the aorta. So, for this surgery they will have to do a median sternotomy -- entering his chest through his sternum. They are not yet sure whether he will have to be on bypass or not.

All our preparations are pretty much complete. Thanks to two of my sister's co-workers and to our neighbor, Ken, we have all the blood that we will need on hand. Blake's blood type is A-, a relatively rare type, and I am the only one in our family that was compatible and able to donate for Blake. We really appreciate the generosity of our other donors.

This week, Blake completed his pre-op appointment, a not so pleasant experience for Blake or for us. Blake especially hated the EKG -- as soon as the stickers came out, Blake started yelling. The blood draw was none too popular either. But, afterwards Blake enjoyed lunch out with two of his donors and chasing the pigeons at the Stanford Mall.

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital now has wireless internet, so we will be updating this site with news of Blake's condition. We all appreciate your good thoughts for Blake's fast and easy recovery.