Or so we thought...

After speaking with the surgeon, we were expecting PICU (Intensive Care) to call and tell us when it was okay to come see him. We waited 45 minutes and heard nothing. I asked the volunteer at the desk, who happens not to be Little Miss Sunshine - but that's another story, if we had missed their call. She informed us that we hadn't and that they wouldn't be calling because they never do, they just expect you go over.

Well, that was not 100% correct. In other words, that lady don't know Jack!

We decided to grab a bite to eat before heading over since they don't let you bring food on the unit. While we were feasting on world-class cuisine (hah!), Tyler's blood pressure was dipping dangerously low (60/40) and he was having what appeared to be a mildly violent seizure. They tried calling the waiting room 4 or 5 times to reach us to know if the seizure was a normal thing for him (it's not).

***
I didn't believe the doctor when he told me that Ty had had a classic seizure; he just doesn't have those. His are more of the staring off into space variety, and he always comes back to Earth when you tap him right between the eyes and say his name. All of that to say, I saw the seizure activity myself a couple hours later; it's reminiscent of the chills you get after childbirth or when coming out of anaesthesia.
***

We arrived 30 minutes into the trauma, and by then things were starting to look better. It is 4 hours later and we still have no explanation for why his heart rate and blood pressures fell, it doesn't make any sense. He had completely normal heart rate and pressures through the surgery, so it most likely isn't a reaction to the anaesthesia. Also, when you're in pain your pressure tends to go up. All his blood labs came back normal, so they are mostly scratching their heads here. Hmmm.

They had to stop his pain medicine and flood him with roughly 4 liters of fluid. You could say he looks a bit like a water balloon. But the strategy seems to have worked - he is bouncing between normal and high.

Now he has an unexplained fever that keeps going up -

39.2 C (103F) and climbing

They are drawing blood cultures to make sure he doesn't have an infection. There is nothing for me to do but hold his hand - he's still completely zonked out. His snore reminds me of a chainsaw motor.


Which very loosely brings me to this.

I hope Ty wakes up soon, I have entirely too much time on my hands.