Post-Op, Day 3 and moving

Landon is still doing very well. Today he had his last chest tube removed and he was taken off his oxygen. His nurse also removed his kidney sensor. (His brain sensor was removed yesterday.) The only thing left to be removed, other than his leads for vital signs, is an IV. That should be removed tomorrow.

He had a swallow study done today to check if he will aspirate while eating because of his vocal chord. They found that he did aspirate on his third swallow with a fast flow nipple. So, they switched to a slow flow nipple and he did fine with that. Unfortunately, because they use barium for that, his stomach has been bothering him most of the day since then. His stomach isn't really moving anything out of it, so he hasn't been very hungry. He gets quite uncomfortable and whines a lot because of it. Hopefully that will move through him soon so he can eat orally and be more comfortable.

He has been receiving respiratory therapy today to help get some of the "gunk" out of his system. He got somewhat of a bath today and cried a lot during that and that is almost the best therapy he can get. His cry is a lot quieter than pre-op, but that was to be expected. Hopefully that will return soon.

We got half a smile out of him today when I finished changing his diaper. But it was like he realized he was mad at us and stopped. He has spent most of the day watching cartoons on the laptop. They have kept him calm and helped him forget that he is uncomfortable. We had him out of bed a lot today to help gets things moving through his body. He loved being held and got upset when we put him back in bed.

On a low note, we found out tonight that we have to move to a different room. They have been doing a lot of shifting of kids tonight and we are one of them to be shifted. It's a pain in the rear! This happened to us the last time we were here. We were told we would be moved to a shared room and that we would have the larger side of the room. Then...we found out that we are really being put on the smaller side. The boy we are sharing with is the same boy we shared with before we were discharged in January. Now, this is horrible. This little boy is now 4 months old and rarely has his family with him. We are not allowed to give him attention, for obvious reasons, but I find it very difficult to be in a room with him and not pay attention to him. Hopefully since it's the weekend some of his family will come in. It'll be a little easier for me because I will be gone all day, and most of the night, tomorrow for a track meet.

We are very proud of Landon and how hard he is working. He is an amazing boy! If you haven't met him yet, you will see someday what I am talking about. He has really changed our lives. I never knew what people meant before when they said, "Kids change everything." I know now. All of the stupid things that bothered me before, just don't matter. I don't get caught up in minor things that really shouldn't affect me much. I just ask one thing of all of you who have children or grandchildren...hold them tight and make sure they know how much you love them. Remember how lucky you are to have them in your life. They are an amazing blessing from God.

Watching cartoons on the laptop

Snoozing with Dad