Henry pays it forward

Henry did well overnight last night. They had a few issues with his oxygen and blood pressure, but all are part of the typical post-surgical course and part of the balancing act of controlling his pain while keeping him conscious enough to work toward extubation (getting him off the breathing machine).

Sadly, though, for Hal and one of the intensivists in training, Movember has come to an end. I think they would like a permanent record of their impressive 'staches', so here they are (such handsome guys!):

One of the main goals of today was to get Henry off the ventilator and breathing on his own.  They lowered his pain medications to get him to wake up, but he had a few issues with oxygen levels and a partially collapsed left lung, so they watched and waited for a few hours. In the early afternoon, they went for it.  This was rough as Henry struggled initially.  Alarms were flashing and ringing, Henry was crying and thrashing around and a team of about 10 surrounded him in case he couldn't manage breathing on his own and the tube had to be re-inserted.  Henry struggled initially to the point that both Hal and I had to leave for a short while.  The big issue was that Henry was so drowsy that he didn't breath deeply or cough (to clear some of the secretions that are in his lungs both from the surgery and from lying flat in bed for a prolonged time). The team got us involved to talk to and stimulate Henry.  The anaesthetist had to pull several options from his "bag of tricks", but over the course of about an hour it became clear that the extubation would be a success.  He is off the ventilator!!!!  The 1st picture below is a portion of the team working on this process. Below that is Hal with Henry immediately after extubation. Henry still had some oxygen going in through his nose. If you look beyond the amazing mustache, you will see a very concerned daddy.

One thing that is hard to convey is the level of caring, skill and talent we see in those working with Henry each day.  Below is nurse Susan - just an compassionate, lovely, and bright individual. She worked with Henry in July after his first surgery. We hoped Susan would be assigned to Henry again, and the universe cooperated!

Today was magical in a lot of ways.... just to see Henry doing so well and making progress... actually on the road to recovery, not just on the road to "well enough to get to the next surgery".  A while after Henry came off the ventilator, he became significantly agitated (for lack of a better word - thrashing around, clearly uncomfortable). Because they were worried about dropping him into a sedated state that could compromise his extubated status - no pain meds were allowed to be given.  We thought that perhaps he would settle with some cuddles.... Again, that feeling of them handing your little one back to you after all that he has been through is a feeling beyond description.... A complete flood of relief...

And it worked.... Henry completely settled and was just comfortable and content. His vitals all normalized (blood pressure and heart rate dropped, oxygen saturations came up). It felt amazing. For both of us, and I think for daddy too.

One of the most magical parts of today is related to the title of our post.... How does Henry pay it forward?  We talked quite a lot with Dr. Ross today about the procedure and how well it had gone (how well Henry had grown between the 1st and 2nd surgeries, how well his surgical and post-surgical course have gone).  Dr. Ross told us that he has changed his way of thinking because of Henry and what Henry's case has taught him.  Historically, they may have done the Norwood (Henry's 1st surgery) and the Yasui (this surgery) all in one procedure.  Henry's was staged, with the initial procedure basically as a new born and the second procedure hopefully when the child is 4-6 months old or at >5.5kg.  Dr. Ross said that moving forward he is going to plan this staging.  Henry is teaching us so much even at his young age.

A strange thing happened yesterday. Hal was walking our double stroller and oxygen tanks back to the swagger wagon, and walked by the donor board for the Stollery. There must be a thousand small names on that board. While in motion, he just happen spot one sole name - the only one that his eyes focused on. It was none other than Dr. Ross. Not only has he helped build the program in his unbelievable skill and dedication, but he also gives back. The universe sent the right message - Dr. Ross does not do this for the money - he gives that back - he does this because it is his calling. We are really fortunate to have him looking after our dear Henry. Western Canada is blessed to have this centre. Dr. Rebekah is also on that donor board!

We have worked hard to give Dr. Ross the accolades he so deserves. We struggled with the right words, timing and approach. Dr. Ross is not long on words, though we like him and his style immensely. The opportunity to shower him with our gratitude and compliments came today. Almost predictably, and wonderfully, it was met with his diversion of the accolades to his team. He credited them with the success and quickly disappeared again. Dr. Ross is a teacher in many ways.

Special thanks today to Denise White, who not only drove from Calgary to take care of Magnus for the day, but she arranged childcare for her own 1-year old to help us out.

Magnus still had plenty of energy when we returned from the hospital to tow Daddy around the toy room.

..and not to forget Owen... He had a nice time with our friends, Greg and Nicole, who came for a visit at the hospital. Gord came too, but we were just with Henry at the time and we appreciate his coming by too!

Thanks to everyone for following our progress and supporting us. We will all sleep better tonight as we have made it through the most critical 24-hour post-op period.