Progress

Zachary is making some progress and has been feeling a little better.  Yesterday afternoon one of the NP's proposed trying a half dose of ativan to calm his nerves and anxiety.  What a transformation!  Within half an hour, Zachy was a little mellow fellow, content to lie in his bed and watch PBS.  He even snarfed some yogurt and let the nurse change his chest dressings.


In the afternoon while Zachy was sleeping, we had a very special visitor!  Heart friend Tommy stopped by after a routine heart cath and biopsy to test for rejection of his transplanted heart.  Last summer Tommy was in the hospital recovering from his heart transplant when Zachy was here for his Hemi-Fontan.  He is somewhat of a little celebrity in these parts, and has recently befriended the likes of the Detroit Tigers and Guy Fieri from the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives."  He is the poster child for Mott Hospital's Congenital Heart Center and was suffering from HLHS in heart failure prior to his transplant.  Today he is full of energy and doing most things a nine year-old boy should do.  You can read about his long journey on his CarePage site.
Tommy is our heart hero!  (You can tell how excited Zachary is.)

Tommy and his mom brought us this pillow and tote filled with goodies, compliments of Hearts of Hope.

Zachy ate a fairly decent spaghetti dinner last night, asked for more when I slowed down feeding him, and even gave it a thumbs up!


He had a more restful night and spent the morning with Daddy so Mommy could finally take a shower and run a few errands.  His chest x-ray looked good and his morphine was discontinued today.  He also had his mediastinal chest tube (which drains from around his heart) removed, which should give him a little relief:


Overall, Zachy's pain seems to be under control, though there are times he is definitely uncomfortable.  This afternoon, we took him in a stroller ride through the hospital and out in the courtyard.  I think he enjoyed getting some fresh air, feeling the warmth of the sun, and hearing the birds.  We bumped into Zachy's heart friend Miguel, who is well recovered and ready to go home!  Congratulations, Miguel!
Giving each other "five."

Zachy refused a smile today, but he did manage to give us his "cute face."

All the excitement (and the happy drugs for his tube removal) left Zachy pretty wiped out this evening.  He went down for a nap and Mommy and Daddy snuck out for some Greek food!  Three hours later, he's still snoozing like a rock and I'm starting to wonder if we'll be up all night...

Comments

  1. The mom of 4 monkeys!July 3, 2010 at 5:33 PM

    Oh, he looks so much better, Thank you God! I will pray that he continues to go in the right direction.
    And, I love the "cel phone picture"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carolina CartersJuly 4, 2010 at 8:16 PM

    Zachy looks SO much better! :) The pictures of him and Miguel are precious.

    Praying for continued progress and waiting for a picture of a smile from that cutie! (although the "cute face," that's pretty close. :)

    ReplyDelete

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