The Journey of a Sweet Little Boy and His Special Heart

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Back to the ICU

This morning could go down as one of the scariest we have ever had.  It all started out exciting... Logan was going to get his chest tube pulled.  That meant HOME was within our reach.  The doctor from the surgery team came to pull his chest tube (not Dr. Spray this is usually done by a Resident or NP).  Pulling chest tubes are normally a pretty minimal thing.  We gave Logan some pain meds right before and it should have been done in a matter of minutes.  I was alone with him (it was early) and I held him while the tube was pulled.  Then I watched as the doctor struggled to get the hole closed where the tube was removed.  I think skin had grown over the stitch that was made to be pulled closed.  This is where I get a bit angry.  The doctor was not prepared for things to not go perfect.  He had to leave the room to get a different dressing to put over an open hole in my sons chest.  I don't know if the doctor is to blame, or if Logan took a breath at the exact wrong moment when the tube was pulled, but everything that could go wrong went wrong.  The doctor patched him up and left and Logan seemed okay for all of about 5 minutes.  Then I could tell something wasn't right.  His breathing changed and he was miserable.  I called for the nurse she checked his respirations, HR, and sats and thought all looked well.  Brad arrived and both of us knew something wasn't right.  I called again and she got the doctor to come (the attending doctor on the floor who we love, not the guy from the surgery team).  Within minutes our room was full of more doctors than I could count.  They did an x-ray and air bubbles had entered his chest cavity when the tube was pulled.  This made both of his lungs collapse.  (We didn't learn how serious it really was until a few hours later).  I was so impressed with how calm the attending doctor stayed.  She had control of the room and had the room set for worst cases scenario (having to puncture a hole to release the air).  They were having a hard time getting in contact with Dr. Spray, Logan's surgeon, because he was already in the OR.  I held him while he struggled to breath (he was put on a high flow of oxygen) he had 2 x-rays and we were wheeled together on the bed down the hall to the ICU.  Dr. Spray met us in his room explained that they needed to insert another chest tube (a different kind in a different place) to get rid of the air bubbles.  When they had me sign consent I said I would only sign if the same doctor that took out the tube was not allowed to touch him again.  They prepped his ICU room and they were able to do the procedure in the ICU.  Brad and I got to wait outside the door the entire time. 
Now we sit in the ICU and it feels like we are starting over.  They tell me he will feel better tomorrow, but right now we can't get him to move.  He hurts.  Yesterday my boy was able to play with all of his toys, and now he is miserable again.  I think he is feeling defeated.  Like really what else are you guys going to do to me. 
This new chest tube has a suction machine on it that pulls out the air bubbles and then somehow helps the lungs re-inflate.  The x-ray after the procedure was already a lot better.  He is still needing oxygen and like I said is still in pain, but he is stable.
Crappy, crappy set back.  Brad and I have been so worried about the chest tube being pulled the past couple of days.  We thought it was because we were skeptical of the fluid maybe not being completely done draining, but maybe this is why. Maybe Heavenly Father was preparing us for this.  Who knows, but I hate that it had to happen to my son.

3 comments:

  1. A hard day for the kid is a hard day for the parents. I hope and pray this is just a little bump, and Logan will bounce right back. All my Love to you!

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  2. I'm crying while reading your post so sorry sending my good juju love ya

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  3. Oh Heidi, this breaks my heart! It is so scary that he was doing so great one day and the very next have such a scary experience. I hope he is having a better day today. Hugs!

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