Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Ahem....We Are Home......

Yeah, you heard me right, home.

For the first time ever, Rhett mantained his oxygen sats, and did not land himself in the PICU after going under general anesthesia.

See, what were all of you worried about? (Hee, Hee, Hee!)

Seriously though, I look back at it, and it was nothing. He went in he played tickle tickle with the anesthesiologist, then she took him back, he waved good bye to me and blew me kisses. It was so hard.

I took a Sesame Street coloring book with me, and colored a bunch of cookie monster pictures for him while I was waiting. It only took 45 minutes, and the next thing I knew the ENT was sitting next to me in the waiting room.

He put in new ear tubes, and got regular ones in, not the itty bitty ones that he had before. He removed a bit of scar tissue, looked at his voice box, all was well there, then his wind pipe and esophogus were a different story.

There were some things in there that made him think that Rhett has som MAJOR reflux going on. I can't remember what he said they were, and now I am kicking myself.

I heard alot of blah, blah, blah, HE'S FINE, blah, blah, blah, HE'S DOING GREAT, you know, stuff like that.

Usually I am taking notes and remembering all of the big medical names so that I can research them on my own. But now I will have to call tomorrow and talk to them about the names of what they think he has.

The details I do know is that they took biopsies around his wind pipe, and some from his esophagous. The ENT thinks Rhett has something that has the esophagous word in it, but it's a really long name, and I can't remember it for the life of me. I do know that alot of the biopsies that they took are to diagnois this condtion.

Does anyone know what I am talking about? If you do, leave a comment or email me, because it's driving me nuts.

We did have one really scary episode in the PACU where he tried to cough up a mucous plug that was as big as Texas, and his sats dropped to the 60's. They had to bag him then suction him to get it out. After that he did beautifully.

It does make me wonder though how long that thing had been living in him. I thought it was going to crawl away and eat me or the nurse. I have never seen anything like it.

Eww......

He is still on oxygen but, at his baseline of 1/2 a liter, and that is totally to be expected of him for a few days because anytime anyone messes with him it takes him a while to recover PH wise. Anesthesia alone can cause his pressures to go up.

Even though there are a few buts, this is seriously the best he has ever done after a surgery. And in all reality....

It's about time we had it easy!!!

You have no idea how happy I am to be home.

His ears are bleeding a little, and his saliva is pink from his throat being irritated. He also looks like a human pincushion because they couldn't get an IV in. He got poked 9 times before they finally got one. He is all sorts of bruised, and he still wasn't over his bruise from the IV when he had Rotavirus!

So we go back in a month to see the ENT again to discuss a game plan. By then we will have the MRI done as well, and we can decide whether or not to take the tonsils out. This is all still really overwhelming, but being home, and knowing that Rhett's overall health is improving, (where is some wood to knock on).....makes this so much easier to deal with.

Thank you so much for the thoughts and prayers. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends.

Rhett sends lots of smooches to everyone who prayed for him and helped him through this!!

16 comments:

Jodie said...

Hooray!! So glad you are home! I always have to call the next day after Tyler has surgery b/c all I can remember the doctor saying is that he is doing fine. :) Kiss that little man for us, sleep well and relax! You deserve it!!

Damama T said...

AWESOME!! Congratulations, Mom! I know you are relieved! The idea of coloring him pictures was a stroke of genius - kept your mind and hands busy.

Oh, and I wonder if there's a school that pre-op nurses get trained at where they all learn that smartmouth rudeness!! GRRR!

So now we start praying for good test results. Keep us posted, OK!

http://damama2all.blogspot.com/

mommy to Kaden, Brody and angel Ava said...

I am so glad to hear that everything went well and that you guys are home!!! Way to go Rhett. Take care, Amy

Colleen said...

I'm very happy that Rhett did so well, and that you are HOME! I know that is the biggest relief! :)
~Colleen :)

Melissa @ Banana Migraine said...

I am so glad that it went well!

Sustenance Scout said...

Ditto! Hugs from Denver, K.

BiLlY, sAm, AnD bOyS!!! said...

i am so glad things went well for once. you guys needed it. especially this time of year!!! Who is the ent that did the surgery? just wondering. give him kisses.

Sarah said...

What it probably is is Eosinophillic Esophagitis. Which means that he is allergic to what he is eating and it is causing major issues in his esophogus. Here's a link I have bookmarked
http://www.medicinenet.com/eosinophilic_esophagitis/article.htm

I normally just lurk but thought I could help, honestly I hope that it's not what it is.

Pam said...

That's exactly what it was. Thank you for that. Now I gotta go freak myself out and read it. YIPE!!!

Niksmom said...

Pam, so glad to know things went well...Ok except for that gross plug thingy. Ewwwwww is right!

The good news is that they can treat the E.E. if that's what it is.

Keeping you guys in my thoughts daily. xoxo

Emily said...

Yeah! I am glad that you got to go home! We are obviously here in the PICU. Macy was extubated this morning and was MAD for a while, but now is resting comfortably and no bumps so far.

And yeah, what is up with the rude pre-op nurse and in our case front desk people? At least our PICU nurses are great.

Marla said...

Yes! Wonderful! I am so glad everything went well.

carolyn q said...

This is great news. I am so glad things went so well and Rhett was able to come home so soon. He is a trooper.
I love to color, it's very relaxing!
Hugs,
Carolyn Quigley
Intermountain Healing Hearts

Sarah said...

The Extreme Makeover last Sunday was a family in Idaho whose 4 kids have EE. They kept talking about the kids dying. EE is NOT FATAL. I'm on a reflux group that has a EE section and those people know this family, they actually think the kids also have MITO or some other metabolic disorder along with EE. Just wanted to let you know so you don't panic too much.

Kari said...

Hi Pam. I have been lurking this week we have all been sickly. I am happy I lurked over at T21 on the 5th and saw your update in the evening before I went to bed. What a sigh of relief I am so happy things went well. :)))
Hopefully Rhett doesn't have this EE I will continue to keep you in my thoughts and prayers!

Unknown said...

You gradutated from the tiny titan tubes?! Lucky you!

I am so glad Rhett did so good, praying for more and more and more good news!