~The Speth Family~: Not His Best Day

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Not His Best Day

Going to the hospital today wasn't as fun as I had anticipated. Actually, it stunk. When Dr. Vernon came in he said, "Three days ago I thought he was flying through this - boy was I wrong". The NP said, "you're son isn't looking very good today". They kind of blind sided me a little with the details. I guess that is what I get for being home sick for two days.

Ammon is ok, but not great. He has been having trouble with that left lung since his surgery. Dr. Burch mentioned it to us, but it seemed OK the next day so we didn't worry about it. It finally collapsed. The ventilator is keeping it open and it should heal eventually. He doesn't have pneumonia or "RSV", but he does have a respiratory infection which is causing problems with his recovery. They are still growing the culture so they have him on some very general antibiotics.

His echo this morning found a narrowing in his aorta. This is new. He is going to the cath lab tomorrow to see if they can fix it with a balloon or shunt. His heart function is also not as good as it was so they put him back on the milrinone and gave him a calcium shot to help his heart squeeze better. His color was terrible and limbs were cool when I got there, but it had improved significantly by the time we left.

Ammon was a little more alert, but still drugged. It was sad. I just want to pick him up and cuddle him. We talked to the respiratory therapist quite a bit. She helped take care of him last time as well. She said his chest x-ray actually looked a bit better this morning than it did yesterday. John said he looked better than he did on Sunday. The respiratory therapist also said the ventilator causes a little bit of damage to the lungs and where he was on it for so long last time there is already some damage in there which may have contributed to his struggle, but she seemed confident that he would be able to get past this. They didn't remove his pacer wires today, but they did take out both chest tubes.

What a crappy day.

2 comments:

JulieMay 18, 2010 at 8:29 PM
Suzi, I know we never got to know each other as well as I wished we would've while we were in Utah but I honestly wish I was there to just give you a big hug. You're a super hero in my book for being as strong as you are when days like this come along. As always, our prayers are with little Ammon and we wish him a quick recovery!
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John and SuziMay 19, 2010 at 7:44 PM
Thanks Julie :) You are super sweet. I'm glad we at least get to know you this way! Thanks for the hugs and prayers - its a good time for them!
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