Monday, May 26, 2008

Doing Better

I'm feeling much better now. Thank you all so much for your encouraging words. It means a lot to us. I had some friends from my life group drive up today and they took me out to lunch and ice cream! And they brought frozen meals from our church family. Mmm, we can't wait to eat them! Before they left we also had some prayer time for Drew. So that was refreshing. Thanks for making the long drive ladies!

TNLG ladies

They did the bronchoscopy around 11:30 and sucked up some good secretions and this one crazy looking clot. There was another really big one in there, but they couldn't get it out. They put some bronchozyme on it to try to loosen it up and scheduled him for another bronchoscopy for tomorrow.
Setting up for the bronch

A very flattering picture of the back of the doctor and the RT during the bronch

The x-ray a few hours later looked better. Since there was no talk of extubating today they restarted his fentanyl drip (for pain) because he was requiring doses every hour. The fever is back under control. I was feeling like not much progress had been made, but the nurse did point out that the diuretics are working and Drew's fluids were negative today, and that is good news. There was one scary episode where Drew's heart rate went up into the 180s (he's been in the 130s) for six minutes, but the doctor just watched him and it went back down on it's own. I told the doctor he might have to stand at the foot of Drew's bed and just watch him so he behaves. Dan said he thinks Drew was just showing off what he can do with his fancy new heart.

Dan took Ava home to put her to bed tonight because she has been missing her mommy & daddy. He is going to stay with her and Grandma Kathy and I will go home later after visiting with Drew for a while. Most of our visitors will be back to work tomorrow so it will be quiet around here. My mom is going to watch Ava tomorrow, but we're not sure if it will be at the hotel or at Kathy's house yet. Oh, I forgot to mention that I did bring Ava in to see Drew yesterday. She had been asking about him so I took her back to see him. She said "Drew sleeping" and "owies right there?" We told her that he did have owies but he had medicine to make him feel better. Then she got kind of scared and said "no want to go there" so we took her back out. She asked again for him later and we brought her in again, with similar results. Hopefully he'll get the tube out soon and then he won't look so scary to her.

Here's a short video of the beginning of the bronchoscopy:

12 comments:

Paige said...

thinking of you often and praying... just checking in glad to hear encouraging news!

Valerie said...

I was aching for a update. I even got Carl to "refresh" my Drew blog every few minutes and he ran to tell me there was an update. Sounds like great news and will keep getting better.

I am so happy you had company and especially Siri being there, what wonderful friends.

Amy, Steve, Molly, Paige and Garrett said...

Glad that you had good company today. I'm sure it was nice to take your mind off of things! And it's encouraging to hear that the doctors got some of the "gunk" out of Drew's lungs. Yay!
Amy

Unknown said...

I've been checking for updates all day. I'm so glad the bronch went well and I'm sure tomorrows will be just as good. Thanks for the video..gives you a real insite into what Drew is going through. I'm praying for you all every day. I'm glad Ava got to see Drew. I'm sure it was scary for her but at least she was able to see him for a few minutes.

Love you guys!

Gina and the Gang said...

I am so glad that you actually enjoyed part of your day today. The waiting during recovery is hard, but sometimes no news can be good news. And I agree, your little man was showing off, and keeping everyone on their toes! You are taking up a lot of space in my brain these days, so I will be checking in often, even at work.

Anonymous said...

We just got home from the wedding but you have been in our prayers and thoughts throughout the weekend. We will continue to pray and will come for a visit later this week.

Blessings,
Mitch and Marisa Brand

Kelly said...

Hi there! I've been following your blog and just wanted to say hello. I'm glad Drew is healing and headed in the right direction.

We were at Sanford back in October-November for our sweet tiny angel Baby Brooklyn. Boy do all your pictures bring back memories! If you see our favorite nurses Katlyn or Linda (there were too many to name) please tell them Brooklyn's mom said hello and her twin sister Aubrey is doing really well.

I will be praying for Drew and your family during this difficult time. Take care of yourself.

Katie Scott said...

Hi again!! It was so great to see you and the family today and give you lots of hugs. I pray that tomorrow is the day and they are able to remove the tube and some lines so you can see more of and hold your precious little boy. He is such a trooper and I am so proud of him!

Quayle Covey Blog said...

We were so glad to be there with you today. It really was encouraging to see Drew- I know he's resting up so he can play hard with his "new heart." We look forward to visiting again as a family next!

Anonymous said...

Andrea and Dan,
We are so glad you have had friends come along side you and help you smile and also pray for Drew. Even though we are now in CO, we will continue to read your blog and pray for you and your family. We love you all.
The Bains

Leslie said...

how great that you had such a big group of friends coming over! the video gave such perspective...doc looks kind, drew looks little next to "real" people. he's been growing up so much in photos with ava or with you guys that i keep thinking he's such a big guy! really glad the kids were able to hang...do you think drew knew she was there?

Amy said...

Yesterday I was checking the Blog, Taylor came in and wanted to see pictures of his HBC buddy. I showed him pictures and tried to explain to him how Drew's heart was broken and now it is fixed and he is getting better. We looked at the video your church made about three times. Last night before bed Taylor wanted to say a prayer for Drew, so we did, it brought tears to my eyes. It's sometimes hard to explain to a three year old why Drew is just 'sleeping'. We will be checking in again today as we do all day long. Thank you for keeping everyone up to date. Hang in there Dan, Andrea and Ava!
Amy and Taylor