Yesterday afternoon Nathan had his second jaw distraction. I've been told by the ENT that this has only happened 1 other time in the last 20 or so years here at Primary Children's. The "expert" of these surgeries in Minnesota has only seen a second surgery a dozen or so times in his practice. The surgery lasted about 5 hours and Nathan faired very well during the surgery. He was taken to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for observation and more controlled pain management. Nathan's airway showed some anomalies, but nothing that could be fixed. With all of Nathan's airway issues, he has to be watched very carefully for the first 24 hours to make sure that his body is ok and that his lungs don't fill with fluid as that has happened many times in the past.
Primary Children's serves the intermountain west. Unfortunately although they have expanded another 14 beds in the PICU, that is not nearly enough to service 5 states! They had overbooked the PICU by 4 children with 7 more admits coming through the doors. Since Nathan was considered one of the more stable kids, they sent him down to the children's surgical unit. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic that he is doing so well.... but his pain management was more controlled in the PICU than on the surgical unit floor. The surgical unit is also double booked because of all of the RSV kids and H1N1 kids. These rooms are so little and having 2 kids in them just doesn't work. The surgical unit nurses are running all over the place because they have 5 kids each to work with. Its just not a happy situation for anyone. Nurses are stressed, parents are wanting privacy and more attention for their kids, and the kids are feeding off of each other's crying. What a day!
Nathan doesn't want anyone to touch him except Mom. Even then for a while this morning he didn't want even me to hold him. He is being VERY PROTECTIVE of his face. I can't blame him. I'm sure it is awful! He has slept most of the afternoon and seems to generally be a little more peaceful. He's having a hard time finding a good spot to rest his head. As a baby the distractors were closer to his face and the pins were not so prominent. This should be very interesting for the next two months!
2 days down.... at least 10-12 to go!
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11 comments:
Oh those look so painful! What a trooper. I am so sorry about all of the full hospital beds! Are you sharing a room in CSU too or is it just that the nurses are overbooked? What a nightmare. I hope you can all get some rest soon!
Oh those pictures are SO sad! :-( Who is the ENT that you are working with? Is it Dr. Grimmer?
Our prayers are with you guys. We too are here at PCMC in 3067. We should do lunch. :}
oh my gosh, that poor little man! I must say though I think hes taking it better then any man I know, I wish you the best call me if you need anything, next week is a slow week and I only work a coupla days ok he is in my prayers!
Oh Steph! It makes my heart hurt just looking at the pictures. I don't know how you are dealing with all of this so well. I am glad that he is starting to calm down a bit. Know that we are praying for him constantly.
I am so sorry your little guy has gone through so much. I am sure it is very hard as parents. What a blessing that he was blessed to have you and Jake for parents.
I am glad that things went well with the surgery. We will keep him in our prayers. Let me know if you need anything.
Poor guy!!!! I hope kids start feeling better soon so more space becomes available!
Man, he really is a trooper. What a tough little guy (and a tough mom and dad who are by his side the whole time). I really am going to try to come visit sometime this week. I'll email you before I come up. Take care!
Oh poor little guy! I'm praying for a speedy recovery! This is such a tough time of year for PCMC, I remember how crowded it was 2 years ago when they had a rough RSV season (Elaina was there twice...) Please let me know if there is anything I can do or if you want a visit! Hang in there!
Hey Stephanie, this is Lisa Hansen. I was blog stalking recently and found you guys! :) I have been thinking about little Nathan the last few days and wondering how you all were doing. I'm glad to hear things went well during the surgery, but that is so stressful with the crowded hospital! Let me know if we can help you at all. I am still planning on having Elisabeth over on Tuesday!
Oh what a poor little guy. I feel so bad for him. I'm glad he seems to be doing well now though. I've been thinking about you guys often and praying for all of you.
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