The Journey of a Sweet Little Boy and His Special Heart

Friday, December 27, 2013

1 in 100,000

Bi-lateral pneumothorax from a chest tube being pulled happens in about 1 out of 100,000 cases.  Logan was that #1 yesterday.  And from the sound of it maybe the first in this hospital (at least as long as those working here can remember).   He has caused quite a ruckus around here.
Yesterday was a really, really hard day.  Today as we process everything it is a little surreal to learn more and find out just how scary things were.  If I could have taken a picture of the hall lined with doctors waiting for Logan and then the doctors waiting in his room, it was completely organized chaos.  It was the scene you watch from the sidelines and pray for that poor family, never thought we would be that family. 
They placed the new tube in Logan and were able to drain the air bubbles immediately and his lungs responded very well.  They stabilized him all day in the ICU and then let him go back to his old room that was familiar and more comfortable for the night.  We had the most thorough, organized, OCD nurse I have ever met last night (that was probably not an accident).  She had her eyes glued to every tube, chord, and hose hooked to Logan.  Brad and I took sleeping shifts.  He laid with him while I slept and then he went back to the Ronald McDonald house in the middle of the night and I got to snuggle up next to him.  He was absolutely miserable yesterday.  After they placed his new tube he refused to move a muscle.  He wouldn't even move his head once he found a position he was comfortable in.  They wanted him to get up and move around so he could breath deep.... yeah right.  He wouldn't eat or drink let alone let anyone near him to touch him and make him move.  He was miserable.  He was scared, and I am sure just plain sick of pain. The doctors back in the CCU (step down unit) were a little more sympathetic than the ICU docs.  In the ICU they were barely giving him anything for pain because they wanted him moving not just sleeping.  When we got back to our room and the doctor here saw how miserable he was he let the nurse give him morphine through the night to help him sleep and relax.  I went to bed feeling so defeated.  Like we were starting all over in the recovery.  Just the day before he was playing with toys and one day away from discharge and now he wasn't eating or drinking again and was in so much pain.
This morning a new person from the surgery team came to talk to us and said Dr. Spray had looked over his morning x-ray and numbers and wanted the tube pulled.  This surprised us because we were told yesterday it might need to stay in 48 hours.  Dr. Spray said he was confident that is was only air bubbles that caused the lungs to collapse and that no damage was done to the lungs themselves (like a tear or hole in the lungs).  We wouldn't let her touch him until we had talked to the attending on the floor and she called to confirm with Dr. Spray.  Everyone on the surgical team is walking on egg shells around us now.  I made myself VERY clear about our feelings of how things happened.  Unfortunately I know things don't always go perfect.... it is just when it is your child it is hard to not want to blame someone.  I will say this though.  The team of attending doctors were ready for anything, and they took care of a scary situation without panicking us (even when they were all a little panicked).
So they pulled the tube this morning.  They gave Logan some versed (a medication that gives you a little bit of an amnesia sensation so he won't remember it) and he was like a new kid.  He would finally sit up and he started acting all funny and loopy from the med. 
What a freaking ROLLERCOASTER ride.  Logan is done with the hospital.  He is done with ouchies and meds and tubes and chords.  I think now that he no longer has any tubes in him they might discharge us to the Ronald McDonald house tomorrow (it is less than a mile from the hospital).  And then we can come in for follow-up before we come home.

To show just what a rollercoaster ride these last 3 days have been all these pictures were taken in a 48 hour period.

Playing great on Christmas
  Racing through the hall on McQueen Christmas night

The morning of the 26th. 
They were actually surprised at how good he looked for what was going on inside.  This is usually the problem with Logan, he doesn't show on the outside the absolute chaos going on inside of him.  I know people will comment all the time that he doesn't "look" sick. (Me on the other hand I know I look like a wreck, I didn't even have a chance to brush my teeth before all this happened.  Why they do everything so early in the morning at hospitals is beyond me). 
 The team was all scrubbed and ready in his ICU room.

They let me hold him until the last possible moment, and then they let us wait outside the door.  They didn't fully sedate him because they needed him to be able to breath on his own.

Such a drastic change in such short time.  He was so miserable.

We tried to get him to blow bubbles or the wind mill, but he just was not having it (I didn't blame him).

I left his side long enough for a shower yesterday, and as you can see he wasn't about to let me leave him more than that.  He had a grip and wasn't letting go.  He would wake up screaming or thrashing if one of us wasn't in the bed with him.

This morning after the tube was pulled he sat back up and played with a punching balloon.

And then got really loopy from the meds and couldn't sit up on his own anymore.  He just tipped right over!  As you can see we were watching him close and anticipating this.  We had protected him with pillows on the hard bed rails.

By the afternoon he was back to the playroom trying to play video games that Brad and I have no clue how to play.
 
What a ride we are on with this little boy.  We aren't joking when we say Logan likes to do things his own way.
I have tried to find something positive to make of this whole situation.  Here is what I have come up with...
1. Logan is an amazingly strong little boy who continues to just keep everyone on their toes,, and likes to leave an impression.
2. I really feel like the Spirit works through people in different ways and even if I didn't recognize it at the time, I know it was our Heavenly Father that helped us know something was wrong yesterday and we got it taken care of in the fastest time possible before it caused permanent damage.
3. Logan told a world renowned surgeon to move out of his way (When Dr. Spray came into the room he stood in front of the TV that Logan was watching.  Logan got mad at him and told him to move).  The entire medical staff said Logan is the only person that could have gotten away with telling Dr. Spray what to do.
4. Prayer works. In all the chaos I sent a quick text to our parents and my sisters to pray.  I know they had anyone they knew praying for him.  We felt those prayers.
5. He continues to be our miracle.

1 comment:

  1. Remember to say WEEEEEE! My sick little buddy, what a difference 48 hours can make. You are blessed with an extra spiritual sense because you are his parents. I am so thankful you "tune" into that regularly. I love you all!

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