Lily Rose had a good night. We were thrilled that Joy, the nurse that took care of Sarah Mei and Isabelle on their first night after surgery, was on duty and took care of Lily. She is always so sweet and makes special name signs for our girls (to put on their beds). She also puts bows in their hair. She said when she asked Lily if she wanted a bow, Lily gave a smile and an emphatic nod of the head. That was even with the breathing tube still in. A girl just has to be a girl I guess!
They were able to extubate Lily around 5 a.m. Her blood pressurse has been low since surgery. Yesterday she was on 3 meds but today they have been able to wean her to one med. Her oxygen levels are quite low. Unfortunately this is a product of AVM's which are collateral vessels that were formed in her lungs due to having the Glenn (her 1st heart procedure) in place for so many years. The vessels actually divert blood from being oxygenated depriving her body of the oxygen-rich blood it needs. Her oxygen levels before surgery were in the high 60's or low 70's. Her Sat's today are in the mid-70's and that is probably where they will stay.
Normally after a Fontan oxygen levels jump into the 90's. The hope in Lily's case is that now that she has hepatic blood flow (blood from the liver), the AVM's will slowly close off and her oxygen levels will creep up over the months to come. We have no idea how long it will take or what her oxygen levels will reach. We will just have to wait and see over the next year or more. Right now we are just thankful that she is stable and doing well.
They are keeping her fairly heavily medicated because she gets quite angry when she wakes up fully. I think the combination of discomfort and disorientation from being in the hospital is just too much for this little girl that has only been in the States for 8 weeks. She is being a trooper and either Phil or I are by her side all the time. She definitely is comforted by our presence and for that I am thankful!
Please continue to pray for her as she makes her recovery. Your comments on the blog and e-mails are such an encouragement to us!
5 comments:
Elaine, so glad I checked in with my few minutes this afternoon. Wonderful news to hear that she's doing well post-op. It does sadden me a little to read about her oxygen levels, but I will pray that they will indeed creep up over time. Thanks for taking the time to post the update, and I will continue to keep her in my prayers.
Jill G
Thanks for the update. Poor thing, I imagine it is totally overwhelming for her. We will continue to pray.
Praying, praying, praying! Thanks for all the updates. We love you!
Thank you for keeping us so well informed. We will continue to pray for all of you and especially for a surprisingly short hospital stay!
Our Wu Ji Girl is praying for your Wu Ji Girl and hope that all is well and she is up and playing very soon!
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