August 30, 2009

What a day! Gabe had an incredible night with nurse "J" and didn't give her too much trouble. During this mornings rounds they decided to switch Gabe back to just the Albumen instead of alternating to the FFP. Despite Gabe's rocky past with FFP, every new doctor wishes to give it another try which always ends with us taking it away. I think the next time they decide to use it, I will point out the lessons of the past. He seems to be doing much better with just the Albumen. They also switched Gabe back to just using Lasix only, instead of alternating between the Lasix and HCTZ. This seemed to have helped as Gabe has stopped puffing up and is now shrinking down again. Gabe has also been enjoying his meals that he has been getting since yesterday. We have been worried that the fats from the feeding would leak out of his lymphatic system into his chest, which would indicate a chylothorax (not good). If he did have this leaking, we would see whitish fluid coming out of his chest tube. Luckily over the last 32 hours we haven't seen anything. Hopefully it stays that way.

Today Gabe behaved very well for his nurse "C", she said he wasn't being a little maniac like he had in the past. She didn't have to give him as many pain meds today as we have had to in the past and this could be because of Gabe's new audio treatment he is receiving. Today we implemented the "Sound of Music" plan. That's right, Gabe spent the day rockin' out with his very own iPod. I loaded about 12 hours of relaxing spa music which seemed to keep him very calm all day long. In fact we have already had to charge it back up once. I will have to load up some classical music along with some nature sounds to keep things from sounding like a spa all day long. That might get annoying after a few days, so we will change it up.

Tomorrow is a big day! Gabe will be getting an ultrasound in the morning to look at the fluid that has been collecting again on his right side. If it looks like there is more fluid they will be calling the surgeon back up to work with the radiologist to place a new pigtail chest tube in his right side. Gabe will also be getting a new "big boy" ventilator, since he is outgrowing the one he has now. They say that this new ventilator should make him much more comfortable and hopefully he won't be fighting it as much as he is now. Definitely looking forward to seeing how this all works out.

As for the diagnosis, we are still anxiously waiting. Dr. "B" said that his mission this week is to have an answer and for this he is bringing in the head doctors to all weigh in on the situation. They should also have the final reports back from the biopsy and the MRI. We are scheduled to sit down with Dr. "B" on Tuesday and go over all the results. We are very much looking forward to this. Finally have some answers and then move forward in a positive direction. Please keep your prayers coming. Thanks again for reading and take care.