Bye-bye, Oxygen!

We went over to my parents' place for dinner last night and I was really happy to see Aaron without his oxygen. My daughter and I went over on Saturday and he was still hooked up to it.  The tank was gone and he was upstairs rather than downstairs.  Aaron kind of had to stay on one level until he felt up to it.  I guess he made two trips up the stairs on Sunday.  I love seeing progress!  Thank you all, again, for your continued prayers and support.

Coming Home!

Well, it looks like Aaron is coming home in about an hour!  He'll be released at noon today.  He's been making excellent progress, so they're sending him home.  Aaron will have an oxygen tank, as he still needs that for a little bit.  They tried taking his oxygen down yesterday and his saturation level went from 95% to 75% and he nearly passed out.  So, as long as he has the tank he should be fine.  That's really incredible progress.  He was originally expected to stay in the hospital for a week, but he'll be coming home 76 hours after they cracked his chest open.  Not too shabby.  By the time I get this published, Aaron and his big heart will be home.  Go Aaron!

Doing Well

Aaron has been up for walks several times and went on to solid food yesterday.  There was some kind of miscommunication about the timing on pain meds, so he spent some time in more pain than he should have been.  That's been resolved and he's doing better.

The best news is that Aaron is slated to be released on Saturday.  He's doing really well and his doctor is going out of town Saturday.  The doctor doesn't like to leave patients in the hospital if he doesn't have to.  Good man.

Other than that everything else is about the same and that's good news.

Out of ICU!!!

They moved Aaron out of ICU at about noon today!  I'm totally shocked.  He's now on the cardiac floor of the hospital.  The IV is out of his neck, as well as the arterial line.  My parents called me just as Aaron was being moved and they were off to get something to eat.  The nurses had him up walking earlier today, as well.  It looks like everything is going well.  I just can't seem to get over my surprise that he's already progressed so far.  Maybe if he continues doing so well he'll be able to get out of the hospital earlier than expected.

From what I've heard, Aaron seems to be doing well with talking to people.  That's always good.  I guess he's pretty coherent.  Everything is looking up.

Thank You

This morning I spoke with my dad before he left the hospital.  He told me Aaron seems to be doing really well and told me about all the tubes coming out of him (two chest tubes to drain fluid in the cavity, a catheter, a neck IV, and an arterial IV in his right arm that is surrounded by a plastic thing.  I think that's all.).  My parents will likely be at the hospital most of the day.  I'm still waiting to hear how he's doing with visitors.

Before he left Dad also told me about the valve Aaron got and where it came from.  Somehow I never made the connection between Aaron getting a human valve and the fact that it had to come from a person.  A donor never came to mind.  My heart goes out to the family who lost a loved one, allowing my brother to get on the path to good health and a long life.  The only thing we really know is that the donor was 34 years old, just two years older than Aaron.  That was an excellent match for him.  I'm so grateful to the donor and his family for the blessing to Aaron and the rest of our family.

I also wanted to thank all those that kept Aaron in their thoughts and prayers.  As the damage was more extensive and the surgery was more difficult than expected, all those prayers were much needed.  I mean to tell Aaron about all the people out there who are concerned for him as soon as I can go see him.  My daughter is not allowed in the ICU, so I will have to wait until I have someone to watch her or until he is moved to the floor in a couple of days before I can visit.  We are all so grateful for the outpouring of love we have felt.  please also say a prayer for the donor family that they will be comforted and know that their loss has helped make another life possible.

Out of Surgery

It took a long time to get this posted because the surgery took twice as long as anticipated and I was away from the house when I got word. Aaron is in his room now and my parents are with him.

The reason the surgery ended up taking so long is that there was a leak once the repair was in and they took him off the bypass machine. The surgeon said they had to take out the repair and put Aaron back on bypass so they could fix it. Because Aaron was on bypass so long he retained a lot of fluid and is very swollen in the face and lungs.

Everything is looking good right now. Aaron is awake and his breathing tube is out. He has asked for water, but he can't have any right now. All they can do is swab his mouth. My parents tell me he's looking pretty good and is responding to questions. If Aaron doesn't talk you know something is really wrong. :) I'm quite surprised that he's already awake and has the tube out. Dad didn't get his out until the day after surgery. Aaron is on pain meds and that seems to be keeping things under control. I don't expect that he'll remember anything about today.

The doctor also told my parents that the damage to Aaron's heart valve was more extensive than they originally thought. The endocarditis (infection) had left holes in his already weak aortic valve. We're so thankful that they moved the surgery up from the beginning of September to the beginning of August. A few days ago Aaron asked me if we had all noticed him getting weaker. I gave him an emphatic "YES" and he told me how glad he was that he had not ignored what he thought was only noticeable to him. I'm glad he's learned that he can't ignore anything having to do with his heart.

I know Aaron will welcome visitors when the time comes and I will let you know when that is. The only thing I can base my guesses on right now is my dad's surgery almost two years ago. Visitors weren't a good thing for Dad for the first couple of days. We'll see how Aaron reacts and if visitors help or hinder his healing. Aaron has fewer complications and other considerations than my dad did. Please continue to keep Aaron in your prayers.

Dad took a picture of Aaron after surgery, but before his breathing tube was removed.  I'd forgotten how much bigger ICU rooms are than regular rooms on the cardiac floor.  I guess they need space for a lot of nurses if the situation calls for it.  From this picture Aaron already looks better than I expected.  It's good that he's young and can recover so quickly.

Surgical Update

They didn't get Aaron into surgery as early as they expected.  He went in at about 8:20, rather then 7.  That seems to be fairly typical from all the procedures we've waited through with our dad.  The surgery is also taking longer than what my parents were originally told.  Aaron is still on the bypass machine and the doctor said that's normal.  My parents weren't sure when the surgery is expected to be completed, but that it's all good news and is going well.  I'll tell more when I know more.