Progress continues

Yesterday, Henry continued to progress very well.  He is breathing well on his own and his lungs are gradually re-expanding.  They remain a bit 'wet' and crackly, but this is expected and is clearing as he coughs and with the diuretic drugs they are giving him.  Here's a shot of nurses Megan and Michelle changing dressings and removing lines some of the lines yesterday.  With each 'accessory' Henry loses, he seems a little more comfortable.  Megan (left) also worked with us in July when we were here. She, like so many others here, is brimming with talent and personality.

Here is a sampling of some of the 'accessories' Henry ditched yesterday (mediastinal chest drain, right IJ line, foley catheter, high flow oxygen).

The change in Henry's appearance with then without all these accessories..

Henry still looks quite puffy, especially on his chest wall and around his eyes. This is gradually diminishing as he recovers from the surgery.  He is waking up more and more (again, a balance, as they need to make sure he isn't too active and pulling at lines and tubes).

One of the challenges with Henry yesterday was that he was intermittently extremely unsettled (moaning, thrashing his arms and legs, crying and, at one point, getting a bit mad and holding his breath to the point that he had a dip in his O2 sats and needed some help to get sorted out).  This was not nice to see, but not unusual according to the Intensivist.  One of the things that seemed to work to settle him was holding or touching/talking from us.  He definitely knows we are with him.

Another progression for Henry yesterday was that he was moved out of the PICU (to make room there for a sicker baby).  He has been transferred to a regular ward (still high observation, but a step-down from where he has been).   Interestingly enough, the baby who will take his place is a little one named Amelia, whose parents we got to know during our last stay in July.  Amelia has a different heart condition than Henry, but had the same initial surgery as he did and within days of his surgery.  It was a large dose of perspective to hear that Amelia has spent only 2 days at home since her 1st surgery and the rest of the time in hospital battling complications. We cheer very hard for Amelia to get well soon and really want to support her family too.

When Henry had his surgery in July, there were 2 other families (in addition to Amelia's) that we really connected with.  It is amazing to see how the universe works, as we have managed to see all three families on this trip... by coincidence, one was back for some follow up and staying at RMH and another just happened to be at the hospital for an appointment.  One family with a little boy named Scout had had a rough go back in July.  They watched us come and go from RMH and spent 55 days waiting for their little guy to get well enough to return home......but he did and he has done great. Such good news. The other little guy was named Mason.  Like Amelia, he had a different heart issue than Henry but had the same surgery as him. When we were discharged back to Calgary, Mason's family were expecting him to be sent home to following day.  Yesterday we learned that within hours of us leaving, Mason developed an infection in his incision...within hours it was through his whole chest. He was taken back to the OR multiple times and had to have significant portions of his sternum scraped off in efforts to get rid of the infection.  He was also very challenged because they couldn't access his vessels easily to give him the medications he needed to fight the infection... the last resort was to administer the meds directly into a line inside his heart (right atrium).....  We are happy to hear that though these families had extremely challenging times, their babies continue to fight to survive.  In all this, we have developed an even greater appreciation for Henry's progress and recovery and we feel even more thankful for the stress we have been spared... We hope these other babies will continue to progress and recover.