This is a blog for my daughter Scarlett. She was born with a complex congenital heart defect known as Tetralogy of Fallot with Pulmonary Atresia. She is my little hero.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

24 More Hours in PCTICU






Seems we are enjoying our stay here so much we want to stay another night. Around 10am I was still wondering whether or not they were going to send her home on O2 or keep her here... when in strolls sweet lovable Dr. Lane (he's just like a big teddy bear).

I asked what was up and he said 'well, one of two things are gonna happen. 1.) we're going to send her home on O2, or 2.) we're gonna keep her here over the weekend, then next week they'll determine whether we consider keeping her and doing surgery' (Whhhat?!), then he says 'the next 24 hours will tell us more.' So I say:' Soooo, we're staying another night?..cuz I didn't even know that much...' and he says: 'Yes, definitely one more night and we'll reevaluate tomorrow'.

So we're here for at least one more day possibly more...(?) Just to repeat a bit... her oxygen levels are good when she's sitting still or sleeping, but the minute she starts playing, babbling, fussing, crying (basically moving), they dip in the 60s. They want them above 75.

She's fine with the O2 nasal cannula, but when they shut off the oxygen, her O2 sats dip. Here is a pic of her with our day nurse Kristi:




She has an IV line in her leg/ankle and she keeps bending her foot and causing the alarms in the IV to go off, so the nurse last night put this big 'ol sock on her to stop her from pulling at it, or putting it in her mouth. It looks so funny.


So all day today they are going to try to wean her off the oxygen and see how she's doing....let's keep our fingers crossed... but I don't know what I'm crossing them for (honestly!)... I kind of want her surgery over with, but I kind of want her to go home too...I guess I'm crossing them that she comes off the oxygen, goes home, has a chance for her arteries to grow, then comes back in 4 weeks for her surgery. Yeah, that sounds good, right?



3 comments:

  1. So glad she's doing well! Just to let you know, after Addie's last cath, her sats were in the 60s (even with oxygen). We went home in the high 60s and the next morning she had the biggest (pee) diaper I've ever seen. Her sats jumped 10 points. She has very reactive lungs and they put a A LOT of fluid in her during cath.... just FYI... maybe that's part of the issue! Keep us posted

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  2. I'm so sorry you have to stay another day! But I guess it is best for them to figure out the plan first. I bet she just needs some time to adjust from being intubated and then she will be fine without the O2. If not, O2 at home isn't too horrible. At first I thought I would die, but you get used to it pretty quick. I will pray she doesn't need it though!

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  3. How does she manage to look so cute with an oxygen tube in her nose?
    Good luck baby Scarlett, hang in there Mommy!
    Love, Auntie Michelle!

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