swelling

The week started out quite good! Chance was doing rather well considering and things seemed to be looking up for a change... until Thursday. Mike called to check on him Thursday morning to find out that Chance had a rather rough night. He had started retaining the fluids that they had been putting into his little body, therefor began to swell immensely weighing 3lbs and 10oz with fluid. His little ears looked to be about three times what they should be and his sweet little face was hardly recognizable... The nurses tried to prepare us for what we would see, but there really is no preparation for something like this. They tried several things to get the swelling down, theyve ran lasiks at least twice a day and also albumin. They said that one of the problems was that his urine out put was low and just wasnt able to get rid of it on his own. Yesterday they finally decided to put a chest tube in, they had inserted one earlier the day before to drain some fluid that he had on his lungs but decided to leave this one in until the swelling goes down. That night just hours after putting the chest tube in the swelling began to decrease, so far they have received 320cc's of fluid from his tiny little body. Later that night we went back to check on Chance and he is starting to look like himself again, the swelling in his face is still pretty sugnifficant but is getting smaller each day. Thursday Dr. Myer will be back to check on him to see if there is a need to go back to surgery sooner than anticipated. One thing that some of the nurses are concerned about is that the pressure from his belly is putting to much strain on his kidneys making it difficult for him to pass urine. "we pray for weird things here" as the nurses at Primary's say, the first month its poop this month its pee!! So far Chance is doing a bit better but is yet in need of many prayers... we are so very grateful for all that have been offered up so far in his behalf and ours.

Before and After Chest Tube

Before His Chest Tube On Friday Night

After his Chest tube Saturday Night

Surgery # four

Today Chance had his fourth surgery... we started out the day to come with a rough night last night, his vitals up and down for the last couple of days, his heart rate in the 170's to 180's, his oxygen had been fluctuating, and later yesterday evening the drain that he had in the opening in his belly was starting to become clogged and backed up. Later that night and into this morning the nurses and doctors tried their best to keep the fluid contained, but were unsuccessfull, there was just to much of it, and started leaking out. He was scheduled to go into surgery today at 2pm but fortunately they were able to get him in an hour early. The procedure took roughly two hours... Dr. Myer and her attending came to meet with us after a while to tell us that he did good. However they were unable to do what they had wanted, which was remove more of the infected tissues, because it wasn't soft enough. so this time around they cleaned out the fluid as usual and stitched a new kind of patch on his belly and pulled the two ends of his perforated bowel outside of his stomach and covered it with a Vaseline gauze so the fluid will drain out his abdominal cavity instead of in. Dr. Myer also informed us that with this new patch they wouldn't have to do another surgery on him for another three to four weeks, she wants nature to take it's course and soften up his bowels and scar tissues so they can finish what they started. Now the good news for the day was that none of the bowel tissues as far as she could tell was damaged or dead, so that in it self is a huge blessing!!! Tonight Chance is doing much better and resting comfortably...Our little mirical has long road still ahead of him, but so far it is evident that our Father in Heaven has carried him every step of the way... we thank all who have kept him and us in your prayers... truely words can't say enough. PS. sorry the system is down and we will add pictures as soon as we can.

Surgery # three

Chance will be going in for his third surgery this week, and as of now it is set for Thursday. They will again be checking to see if the scar tissue and the cyst have softened, and to change his bandages. So far this week he is doing well! yesterday they switched his oscillator to a different ventilator so that he will have to work his lungs a bit more, and seems to be doing great! Also he pooped again this week!!! this time is was with out help!!! his night nurse Diane was kind enough to save it for us... kinda gross but never the less interesting to see. Tomorrow they will be doing more blood cultures to be sure that he is still clear of infections.
Chance is becoming more and more active each day, it so much incredible to see how much he changes each week... on rare occasions you may see him with his little eyes open, looking at the world around him. He is also proving to be quite the lady's man already!!! he has several of the nurses fighting for the opportunity to be his primary nurse! The doctors and nurses at the Primary Children's Hospital are truly incredible and we can't begin thank them enough for all that they do for us and our little miracle.

One month old! ( 2nd surgery)

Today Chance is going in for his second surgery to get his bandages changed and to check on his progress. Before he went in this morning he was doing well they had turned down his ventilator quite a bit and said that his little lungs are functioning very well on their own, however with all of his surgery's still to come they are likely to keep him on the osolator until all surgeries are finished. They will still leave his little belly open until the cyst that is in his stomache has softened up so that they are able to remove it safely, then they will be able to close him up and we can again begin the recovery process. Chance's surgery went well today, Dr. Myers said that she is supprised and very pleased with how well he is progressing and that she was also able to see where the rupture in his bowel occured and that the scar tissue is beginning to soften. However the cyst is not yet small enough to remove at this time. We have a long journey ahead of us and are only half way there, but know that like the poem footsteps in the sand, our Father in Heaven has carried us every step of the way.