Adam's Heart - Part 7

Mark here again. It has taken several days to continue this story - the reality of life with a newborn and two other kids is fun, but time consuming!

The moment when Adam was taken away to start his surgery was, for me, the emotional low point of this whole journey. Parents like to be in control of everything surrounding their children. That’s certainly one of the challenges of parenting – the reigns of control progressively get placed in our kids’ hands, more and more with each passing year. But with a newborn, we control everything, and that is the great burden and responsibility of parenting.  At least that is the perception. Deep down, I believe God allows us to control many aspects of our children’s lives, but ultimately he is the one controlling everything, them included. Over the course of our first few days in the hospital, many things were out of our hands, from the giving of a pacifier to an IV catheter directed through his veins. But at that moment when Adam was wheeled away, it was like he was no longer ours. Everything about him would be in the hands of another, and there was nothing we could do but wait and pray. I took solace knowing that hundreds of friends were thinking of Adam and offering countless prayers on his behalf.

We spent the hours hanging out in the waiting area on the 17^th floor with Katherine’s parents, and waiting for the next update from Amy, the nurse practitioner. They gave us a buzzer, just like the kind you get at a restaurant, that would go off when she was on her way down. As the day progressed, our confidence grew and our spirits lifted. The updates would come, and each time they were very encouraging. We even spent a while laughing our heads off while Katherine’s parents worked on their Texas accent.  During the next to last update, Amy told us they were getting Adam closed up, that things had gone very well, and either she or Dr. Fraser would meet with us. She told us that usually Dr. Fraser would meet with the parents after the surgery, but he might not be able to join us today – a heart had become available, and he would be transplanting right after Adam’s surgery was done and through the night. Incredible!

Amy explained in detail all the equipment we would see attached to Adam when he came out of surgery. It was a long list, and intimidating to listen to. But it was really helpful to hear what each of these devices did and why it was important. We had seen other babies come out of surgery, so we had an idea of what to expect. People told us it would be hard to see him like that, but we didn’t find it that way. It was just nice to see him again, with the knowledge that the doctors were confident about how things had gone with his heart surgery. Adam will read this blog someday too, so I’m going to write down all his external attachments for the sake of detail:

1.       Ventilator with a tube in one nostril. It was held down firmly with tape, which obscured a lot of his face.

2.       Feeding tube inserted in the other nostril. Initially this drained excess stomach acid, but was used for his first feeds after the operation.

3.        A large patch on his forehead, similar in function to the pulse oximeter used on fingers. Measured brain oxygen levels during and after surgery.

4.       Two chest tubes in his abdomen, used to drain excess fluid from the chest cavity.

5.       One dialysis tube in his lower abdomen, used to flush toxins from around the organs. It’s called dialysis because the purpose is to perform some of the cleansing function that the kidneys ordinarily would do. Many of these devices were in place to relieve his body from some of its normal workload.

6.       A catheter for urine.

7.       A PICC line (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter). This was actually one of the first things he got after entering the hospital. Babies’ veins and skin are so thin that IVs don’t work for an extended period. This allowed ready access to deliver medicine, nutrition, anything.

8.       An arterial line inserted near his groin. This is sort of like a PICC, but goes into an artery instead of a vein. This allowed constant blood pressure monitoring and provided a way to get oxygenated blood samples without the need for constant pricking.

9.       An aortic line. This was similar to the arterial line, but was directed straight into the aorta. Used simply to get an exact blood pressure reading in a critical area.

10.   A pulse oximeter around his foot, used to measure blood oxygen levels.

11.   Five electrode pads place around his abdomen to measure heart rhythm and breath timing.

12.   One temperature pad applied to his abdomen that connected with the heated bassinet to keep him not too hot or cold.

We finally got to see Adam early that evening. Yes, there was a lot of “stuff” on him, but it was still great to see him and know that he was now starting his recovery. He had his own nurse, and would be well taken care of through the night. We made the trek down to the Ronald McDonald House and got a good night’s sleep.

To be continued…

Lots of equipment and lots of medicines right after the surgery.

 

I like the balloons the nurse drew on his dressing.