We kept Jesse home from preschool today and brought all three kids to playgroup. Miss C. was happy to see the three boys. Jesse was happy to participate in playgroup (which he usually misses due to preschool). James jumped right back in like he was there yesterday (he's missed a couple of weeks). Josiah was awake and a bit cranky due to not being fed since 8am (the cut-off time in preparation for today's follow-up tests). A good time was had by all. We left playgroup at 10:30 and made our way to Children's Hospital.
We arrived at the appropriate floor. Carl took the two older boys upstairs to a children's playroom. Josiah and I headed into the room for testing. It was about 12:20pm. Josiah's vitals were good. Once again, his weight had dropped from 4.14k to 3.87k. They tell me this is normal post-op. Josiah's also been taking Lasix twice/daily, which is likely contributing to the weight loss. The MD came in and examined Josiah and said he sounded really good. Then, he was given the sedation (a liquid taken orally, which apparently tastes quite swill). About 15 minutes later, Josiah was asleep. It was 1pm. They began the sedated echo cardiogram.
During the next 70 minutes, I watched quietly. It was hard to discern what I was looking at. There were lots of blues and reds on the screen. It was difficult for me to tell if things looked good, or not. The room was quiet and dark. Few whispers were spoken between the technician and nurse; otherwise, it was my own thoughts idling away the time. During those times, it's easy to imagine all the things that could be wrong, the bad news you may receive, the fears are there. All the while, you hope for the best.
At about 2:20, they paged Josiah's cardiologist to let him know the echo cardiogram had been completed. While they waited for his arrival, they were able to complete the EKG (Josiah was still asleep, so it was quick and easy). The cardiologist arrived moments later, listened to Josiah's heart, and reviewed the results of the echo cardiogram. He said, "We couldn't have asked for a better outcome." Josiah is doing great!!! There are no holes in his heart. Nothing is leaking. The pressure in the right side of the heart is near normal. The size of the heart has already decreased. The surgery was a complete success. Part of me kept waiting for the "but," but it never came :). Josiah will have a simple follow-up office visit in 1 month (no sedation, no testing, just a simple office visit). They then removed the one suture Josiah had (from where the chest tube had been placed). The site looks great; it's healing nicely.
Once awake, Josiah nursed for a short time then fell back to sleep. I went to find Carl and the boys. We made the appt for next month's follow-up, went downstairs for Josiah's chest x-ray, then made our way to the cafeteria for a late lunch/early dinner. By the time we left the hospital, it was approximately 5:30pm. The cardiologist had already left a message on my cell phone stating Josiah's chest x-ray came back perfect. Josiah no longer needs the Lasix. We are delighted.
It was a quiet ride home as our three beautiful boys slept all the way home. Carl and I are tired. We are relieved. We are looking forward to the next few days, at home, with our three healthy children.
Recently, on facebook, a friend suggested that my brother Scott (who died in Sept) was watching over Josiah. I like that idea. Scott had his faults, here on earth. However, Scott was drawn to those in need. He enjoyed helping the downtrodden, even when he was one of them. My brother would have loved his newest nephew. Perhaps God knew that Josiah was going to need an angel. Maybe that's why he brought Scott Home....to be Josiah's Guardian Angel <3
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