Wednesday, January 2, 2008

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.

10 comments:

Am'n2Deep said...

Dang it! I'm really sorry, Corrie. Well, we'll have to just keep on prayin' then. Love you.

Anonymous said...

Oh I'm so sorry Corrie. That's so scary.

Mrs. O said...

I still have an okay feeling about everything. His fever is now 39.9 (very nearly 104). He isn't responding to the Tylenol, but part of me thinks this is just his way of reacting to the trauma of surgery.

And since I only slept about 2 1/2 hours last night, I'm thinkin' I'll catch up on a few zzzzzzzzzzzzs.

Montserrat said...

I'm glad the surgery went well. Hopefully all this other stuff will correct itself soon. I'm still praying for you here.

Scribbit said...

Your life is amazing--maybe it seems like routine to you but I read and sit in awe of your ability to handle such situations. Thanks for taking the time to record it so we can share the experience a tiny bit.

Elizabeth-W said...

Still saying prayers.
I thought maybe the bird was going to leave him a little present at the very end...as in...everything seems like it's going fantastic, and then CRAP!! ;)

Anonymous said...

Praying!

Mrs. O said...

cocoa - I'm sure you're right.

scribbit - thank you. I wish I could give every parent in this unit a little of the peace I'm feeling.

ew - that's on the moarmoset clip. It pee'd on his head - too funny. He handled it with such grace.

Tirzah - thank you

b. said...

Have you been able to get any sleep?
I hope so....Ty will need you to.
Take Care of you too.

Mrs. O said...

b - last night was much better. I ended up going out to the car for my own pillow and that made a big difference.

Our nurse two nights ago had her boyfriend working across the hall so she was not actually in the room with us. She had left a clamp on his antibiotic and the thing kept right on alarming. had to track down another nurse for help. Argh! She spent a lot of time in her boyfs lap. I never said anything (but boy was I tempted to unload on her) ok, rant over.