HI everyone

I was going to wait until after the surgery to update everyone and let you know whats going on, but we have hit another stumbling block, so I thought I'd let you all know.

They were supposed to take Wyatt in at 10am to get this wire out, and put the new line in (the one similar to the PICC)  Lisa went down this morning to talk to the Drs, sign consents etc.  All that went fine, but Mr Wyatt, decided to do things his way again, and is not co operating right now.   Obviously they are watching him closely, his heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, his blood gases etc.  Well, his heart rate has been too high, he is breathing funny, and his blood gases are wonky.   They are playing with his levels now, the machines, and his meds, to try and get him stable.  They will not do anything until he has been stable for at least a half hour.    They also have said that there is far more secretions in his lung than there normally is, and even far more than yesterday, so they are wondering if there could possibly be some sort of infection.  They took cultures, and sent them off.   However, they are not waiting for the cultures to come back, as that could take a couple of days, they are only waiting for him to stabilize.  When they do get in there, they will have to open up about a third of the original incision, and then life his heart up, and take the wire out.  Then they will put this other line in.  This line is only going to be a temporary thing apparently, as he cannot go upstairs with this line, but they will not put a more permanent one in until they are absolutely certain that there is no infection at all anywhere.

That is all I know for now, except that more prayers for Wyatt are needed, and some for Lisa too.  She is really wearing down, and I am sure as a combination of everything, tired, stressed, worried, scared, frustrated, you name it, she is getting negative, and snappy at people, including the Drs and nurses that are trying to help Wyatt. 

I will update you again when we know what is going on more.  If it is later this afternoon though, it will be a late update tonight, as I am headed down to the hospital.
Laura

Hi everyone

So, I just got off the phone with Lisa again, and here is the final report for the day....

Wyatt had a stable night last night, and day today.  They lowered his string again (holding his chest up) and at first they weren't sure he was going to tolerate it as his blood gases weren't coming back great etc, but they slowly improved, so they left it alone.  Lisa spent a lot of time kicked out of the room this morning due to another child arresting in his room.  Lisa also spent alot of the day arguing with the Drs and nurses as well, so she had a frustrating day.  They did an x ray on Wyatt, and they saw that there is a piece of metal behind his heart.  They are pretty sure that it is a piece of sternum wire, that must have broken when he arrested, and they opened him up, and no one saw it, because it fell in behind his heart.  SOOOOO, now tomorrow, they have to open him back up AGAIN, to get this piece of metal out.  So, they kept him totally muscle relaxed as well today, as they don't want him moving while that is in there.   They will be taking it out tomorrow, by opening his chest, in the same spot again, though hopefully they won't have to re open the entire incision.  At the same time, they will be putting in another line, right into his atrium, which is basically like a PICC line, and can be used for all the same things, only it can be used more long term, and is less likely to clot.  So, if they can get it in, they will be taking out the PICC, as they are thinking that was where that infection was from a while back, and want it out. Also, the blood clot at the tip of the PICC is getting bigger, so they want to get the PICC out even more due to that.    They also did an ultrasound, and found he has a new bloodclot in his neck, where the line in his neck is.  So they have started him on a heparin infusion, and though it won't help the one in his arm, as it is too old, but it might help this new one in his neck, as it is new, and small still.   
There was a plan to do a head ultrasound tomorrow, but Lisa is not sure now if that will be happening due to the surgery again, or if it will get put off again, until after surgery. 

She does not know what time he is going in tomorrow, only that she has to be there at 7am to sign consents.  They did not know if they were taking him in right then or not. 

He is still peeing up a storm, which is really great.  His color is good, and is a little less puffy again.   His heart rate and sats and blood pressure are all good.  In fact his heart rate has come down quite a bit, where it was sitting his 160's the other day, it is now sitting high 130's.   Poor guy doesn't know what he is in for again tomorrow.  Hopefully it doesn't take too long, and they don't have to prod around too much, and cause more swelling again.   We REALLY hope that this is the last one, and that he can get this one done, and concentrate on recovering finally.  It would be really nice to at least have him off sedation and muscle relaxants for his birthday next week. 

I will update you as I know what is going on.  Lisa is going to call me after she talks to the Drs in the morning, or sooner if anything is going on.

So, more prayers for Wyatt tonight please... .For a quiet and restful night, and a quick and easy surgery tomorrow, and then on to recovery.

Laura

Hi everyone,

Sorry that it is late again, but just got back from the hospital again....

I am happy to say that they decided to close Wyatts chest today.  First, in the morning, they had said they were going to do it tomorrow... then Dr VanArdsell I guess changed his mind, and decided to do it today, as the sooner thebetter, and less risk for infection.... so, around 3pm, they kicked everyone out of CCCU, and got started.  He did very well for the whole process, which took about two hours, but when they let his chest just sit as it would closed, there was too much pressure still I guess on his heart, and his blood pressure and heart rate started to drop too much.  So, what they ended up doing  was still closing his chest, but tying a "string" to his sternum, and then pulling it up, and tying it to a machine above him, to hold it up off his heart, (very hard to explain) sounds and looks rather uncomfortable, but looks like it is working so far.  Tomorrow, they will try to lower it a bit, and see if it can handle anymore pressure.  Once they get it down to normal, then they will start to wean him slowly off the breathing machine and muscle relaxants.  He was all cleaned out, and sprayed with antibiotics before they closed him up, so hopefully, he will not get any infections.  His blood pressure, heart rate and sats are all good right now, and his color is much better.

Lets hope that this is just the beginning of more good to come, and hope and pray for another good night, and keeping that handsome little chest closed. 

Lisa unfortunately got kicked out of Wyatts old room today, so that means she is back to sleeping on waiting room couches, and living out of her car...  hopefully they will get back up to 4D soon!

I will update again tomorrow

Laura 

Hi everyone

Sorry again for the late update (AHEM, some certain people who have complained HAHA you know who you are)   (I am so teasing you know that right?  I hope I did it in time for you to sleep tonight )  But I am late because I was at the hospital

Wyatt had a rough day yesterday, and last evening, and so did Lisa, for many reasons, most of which I already covered yesterday....  I am happy to say that today was a MUCH better day.  Wyatt was very stable all day, and had a great nurse.  Yesterday, they had had to put him back up to 100% oxygen, and felt that he had a leak in his right lung.... today he is back down to 45% oxygen, and his lung seems fine.  He is completely off of the epinephrine now, which is the blood pressure meds he was on, to keep his blood pressure up.  He is doing that hisself now, and as the day wore on, it seemed it was getting even a bit better.  His color looked much better, and he was less puffy, although still pretty puffy.  He is peeing up a storm now, so that should take care of that.  The diuretics seem to be working better now than they did for him before the surgery, lets hope it stays that way.  He was still running a low grade fever, so they still have him on a cooling blanket thing, as well as some ice on his head.   Lisa was able to give him a "bath" I use the word bath very lightly, however, it was nice for her to get to wipe down parts of him, and wash his hair, and put some cream on him where she could, and he now smells much better... much more like Wyatt....  Which is nice....  He is still listening away to Baby Einstein, and jsut very peacefully resting.  They did not do anything with his chest today, and there plan now is to leave it until Tuesday or Wednesday, as Dr VanArdsell wants to be able to take the tube out that is propping it open, and sew it up all at once now, instead of the original thought of taking the tube out, then still leaving it open for a couple more days.. there is more risk for infection that way, so this is the new plan.  His sats are sitting in the 90's mostly still, so that is really good.   Once they get the tube out, and his chest closed, then they will have to start weaning him off the breathing machine.  This will also take time, and so he still has a long road ahead of him.  He will also have to be weaned off the muscle relaxants.  He will be in a lot of pain, and it will be a long recovery for him, even more so than originally one would have thought, due to the fact of all the extra trauma his body has been through due to the arrest, and the fact that they had to re open, and leave open his chest.   His heart rate is still a bit high, but he is on so many meds, it could be due to that as well, and once everything is settled down, it should hopefully come down a bit.  Grandpa and Grandma were still there today, and I think they were staying again tonight.  Granny Cels came by today as well while Lisa was off getting lunch with Grandma and Grandpa and  Sean and Gabby and myself.   We all had good visits with Wyatt and Lisa today, and even Sean got to sneak in for a few minutes to see him, so he was very happy about that.

We are hoping that his good day will continue through the night, as he has another nice nurse tonight.

That is about all I know for tonight.  Prayers for a good and peaceful and restful night for both Wyatt and Lisa tonight, and I will update again tomorrow.
Laura

Hi everyone

Wyatt is stable, and has been stable for the most part, since my last update.  They have started today, playing around with a few things, and that has wound him up and caused his heart rate to go too high, and his blood pressure to go to low, but when they left him alone, he was ok.    Lisa was getting rather frustrated today because the nurses were not listening to her at all, in terms of knowing Wyatt, and how he usually is, how he reacts to things, and tolerates things etc.  They were talking about taking him off the muscle relaxant, which makes no sense anyways, sicne they don't want him moving etc, and Lisa told them that this was the longest surgery he has ever had, he has never come off them this soon, never mind that he arrested on top of it.  They did not listen, and tried to take him off it.  Needless to say, he flipped out, flinging his arms and legs around, and trying to cry, he was very mad, obviously of course in pain too, and his heart rate went way too high, and his blood pressure way too low.   HE was fighting the machine that is breathing for him.  Lisa had to continue to argue with them, untill finally a Dr came in and said put him back on them (after the nurses trying several doses of ativan, and some morphine, to no avail) and once he got the muscle relaxant back into him, he was ok and calm again.    They did wean him off some of the blood pressure medication, and he is holding his blood pressure ok.  It is still on the low side, but it is alright for now.  They also started giving him his diuretics again, as he was getting really puffy and fluid overloaded.  Yesterday he hadn't been peeing much, but today he has been peeing up a storm.   The diuretic will also lower his blood pressure a little, so they had to give him back a little bit more of the blood pressure meds again ( a balancing act)  His chest still has the tube holding it wide open, and they will revisit tomorrow if they are ready to take that out yet, though the chest will still be left open, just not propped wide open.  They have started giving him a couple of his meds through his G Tube again, and are hoping to start giving him very small amounts of food.    He has had company all day again today, Grandpa and Grandma stayed overnight again, and Granny Cels came this morning, as well as her Pastor and his wife also came.  Then Maama and Babboo came too, so he was surrounded by lots of people who love him again.  He has been having stories read to him and listening to Baby Einstein music.  The machine is still doing all the work breathing for him for now, as he still needs to be resting. 

That is about all we know for now.  The main thing for now is that he is still stable, and we wait and see what happens as they wean him off stuff little by little.    I wil update again later if there are any changes, and if there is nothing significant, I will update again in the morning.

I have posted some new pictures in the April folder, as well as have posted a new folder, Surgery pics, if you do not want to see Wyatt covered in wires, and on many machines, and you don't want to see him with an open chest, please, don't look at the surgery pics.  If you can handle that, they are there for you to see.

Laura 

Hi everyone

Sorry it has taken me so long to get on here again and update, but I jsut got back from spending the day at the hospital.

Wyatt is stable right now, and totally sedated and muscle relaxed.  The machine is doing all the breathing for him right now, as well as another one pacing his heart.  He is on medication to increase his blood pressure, as his blood pressure is too low.  His chest is still open, just covered in what looks basically like saran wrap, and then jsut a piece of gauze sitting on top of that.  You can see his heart, and his lung.    He is absolutely covered in wires, tubes, drains, lines, monitors, etc.  He is a bit puffy still, and around his mouth area, is pretty grey still.  The rest of him has pretty good color.  His sats are sitting in the high 90's to 100's, and he is on 45% oxygen.  They started some TPN tonight ( some nutrition for him) but only a very little bit.   This morning they temporarily weaned him off the muscle relaxants to see if/how he reacted.  When it wore off, he was very mad, kicking his feet, adn flinging his arms around, so that was a good sign, and they then put him back on the muscle relaxants again, as they want him totally relaxed and sedated for at least another 24 hours (at that time)  They checked his pupils, which they said looked good.  They have concerns about brain damage because of the amount of time it took them to get him back.  I guess from the start of it all, when everything jsut suddenly dropped out of the blue, to the time they got him back after CPR, massaging his heart, and paddling it, was about 20 minutes.  So, when he is more alert, they will do some testing on that.  Right now they want him to rest, and they want to slowly try to wean him off everything, as well as get his chest closed.  They may try to take the tube out that is propping it open tomorrow (we'll see) then they will jsut leave it open for a few more days, for the swelling to go down.    Dad and Karen spent the night and morning there with Lisa and Wyatt last night and this morning, myself and Granny Lyn and Gabby and Carolyn and Allison spent the day with them today, and tonight Dad and Karen are back with them,   we had an uneventful day so that was good, and we took turns sittin with him, reading him stories, singing songs, and listening to baby einstein music, telling him to picture it in his mind.   We are hoping that he has an uneventful night, and that resting all day today will really help him out and tomorrow will be a better day.  He had a fever, but they did not want to give him tylenol due to his organs being stressed and not wanting him to give him more to process than they have too, so they have him on a cold blanket to regulate his temperature. 
Some of his nurses came down to visit him fom 4D last night and today, and he behaved well while they were there.   He likes the ladies!

SO, Just to recap what has gone on the last two days, because I think some people are missing bits and pieces of what has happened, due to the number of updates I have done.  The surgery itself went very well, they did everything that they had hoped to do, Wyatt tolerated surgery very well, although it was VERY long...  He was on bypass for 5.5 hours, and was in surgery basically from 8am till after 7pm.  He was doing well in recovery, after they had decided to close his chest (they were debating this at the end of surgery, due to his pressures etc) and then just after 10pm last night, his heart stopped.  IT was totally out of the blue, suddenly eveything jsut started dropping, and everything went crazy.  There were about 15 Drs and Nurses, and they had to do CPR, and paddle his chest, and open his chest back up, and massage his heart.  They  got it going again, and the hwole thing was about 20 minutes.  So now it is a waiting game, and we wait and see what happens, the next 48 hours being critical. If you want more details, please go back and read all the journals from yesterday, I think there are 6 in total.

That is all I know for now, mostly it is a waiting game now.  I will update if I hear anything more tonight, otherwise, I will update again in the morning,

I also wanted to thank a very kind stranger, whom Lisa met in the Surgical Waiting Room yesterday,  I do not know if they have this website, or even know there names, but WOW, thank you, your kindness is so amazing, un expected, unbelievable, I don't even know what to say .... Thank you so much, and we hope your little one is doing well...

Goodnight everyone, and thank you for the prayers, please keep them coming.

Laura

Hopefully this will be my last update for tonight.

Lisa and Dad and Karen are all back in with Wyatt now.  They have left his chest open, just covered with plastic, then gauze.  At this point, they are thinking (and we are hoping) that this was caused due to the pressure on his heart, from closing his chest.  Because of the swelling, there may not have been enough room for his heart to beat properly.  They are hoping that leaving his chest open, and allowing the swelling to go down, will solve the problem.  Also, when he coded, his blood sugars dropped drastically.  They are trying to figure out why.  They will have to do tests in a couple days to make sure there was no brain damage.  For right now, they say his pupils look good, which is a good thing.  Right now, he is of course very heavily sedated, and has tonnes of wires etc hooked up to him.  He has a special nurse, and the Dr will be in there all night.  I imagine Lisa won't stray far either.  At this moment, he is doing well with holding his own, his blood pressure and heart rate are ok, at what they were at when he first came out of surgery to CCU.  His sats are sitting high for him, in the 90's.

I will update you again in the morning, unless there is anything really important, In which case I will update right away.

Please say many prayers for Wyatt tonight, as the next 24 hours will be critical.

Laura

Well heres an update I didn't want to make

I just got off the phone with my Dad (Wyatts Grandpa) he is there with Wyatt and Lisa, Wyatt coded about half an hour ago now.  They were able to get him back fairly quickly, but had to open his chest again,  They are now trying to figure out what happened.  They were going to put him on the ECMO, but he is holding his own right now, so they have it standing by, and all the Drs and surgeons are there trying to figure out what happened.

I will update you again as I know more, and please, lots and lots of prayers for Wyatt.  Lisa is waiting to get back in to see him now

Laura