Tomorrow

Tomorrow (Friday) we find out about Nick’s cultures and what they plan to do – if anything.  Tomorrow will be the deciding factor in whether or not Nicholas goes to camp.  Whew!  What a week!  Praying for clear cultures and no IV antibiotics.

Going Home

Ok.  He is dressed, he is taking Tylenol, and we are getting our discharge instructions.  So we should be on the way out the door in about 15 or 20 minutes.  I will post again once we get home. 

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers this morning.  They have definitely been felt by the both of us.  We thank God that this has been a very smooth procedure for him and that he has not been sickened by the anesthesia.  We are glad to be going home. 

In His Grace, Robin

In Post-Op Waiting

We have been moved to post-op waiting.  Here, they monitor him as he wakes up more and is able to move around, walk around, etc, and we get our discharge instructions.  Soon he should be getting dressed so we can go home.

In the Back with Nick

Update:  He’s awake and they are trying to get him ready to move out to the post-op waiting.  He is drinking apple juice and is being silly on the anesthesia.

They just came out and told me I can go back to post-op with Nick.  He is out like a light.  This is the first time I have been able to have the computer back here with me.  They were just taking the breathing tube out when I came in so that was an experience.  He looks like he is going to be asleep for a while and they are monitoring his blood sugar.

What the Doc Said

The doctor has already come out to tell me what they saw.  He said that there had been some changes on the right side lungs since his last chest xray, which was a week ago, and that there was quite a bit of bronchitis in the upper and lower airways.  They removed ALOT of secretions (mucous) from his lungs while they were in there.  Unfortunately, we will not know a more difinitive answer until the cultures mature, which will be Thursday or Friday.  This still leaves camp iffy for him right now.  He also told me that Nicholas’ doctor was somewhat befuddled over his lung function and is hoping these cultures can shed some light on what is going on down there.

He did really well and they are moving him to post-op as we speak.  Hopefully, I will be able to go back there soon.  I will try to post then if I can.

Going to Sleep

They just came and walked him back.  I accessed his port last night so they didn’t have to wait on an IV to be done.  They love that.  He also told them what to give him to put him to sleep and she wrote it down in her procedure notes.  She thought it was too funny and wonderful at the same time. 🙂 So we should be hearing something from the doctor in about 45 minutes or so.

In Pre-op

Answering all the questions – waiting for anesthesia.

Here and Waiting

We are here in the waiting room.  We should be called back soon.  I will post at each stage of the day. 😀

Time for Bronchoscopy

Chapel Hill just called and said that Nicholas’ bronchoscopy has been scheduled for 9:30 am tomorrow morning.  We have to be there and checked in by 8:30 am.  agh!  So we will be leaving here around 6:30 am.  The good news is, is that we will probably be out of there pretty early, provided everything goes well, and I’m sure it will. 

Of course he can’t have anything after midnight so pray for a cooperative stomach and for a smooth time during the procedure.  He has had this thing done so many times that he even knows what to tell the anesthesiologist to use to put him to sleep.  I think they said this was number 24.  I will take my laptop with me tomorrow so as soon as we talk to the doctor, I will post whatever he tells us.  We know we are in the hands of the Great Physician and are trusting in His care.

In His Grace, Robin

More info on the Bronchoscopy

Yesterday was Nicholas’ doctor’s birthday.  We always send him an email.  He loves it, although he is always so humbled by it.  We love him.  It is easy to remember, because Nicholas was diagnosed on July 4th and we saw Dr. Retsch-Bogart for the first time on July 13th – his birthday!  I think that is a pretty cool story.

ANYWAY, I also asked him about when we would know more about Nicholas’ procedure.  He said,

“We usually know the schedule for the next day’s bronchoscopies by 3PM. This is determined by the anesthesia team. The pre-anesthesia care team starts making calls late afternoon to notify patients and families.”

So that is “the word.”  I will post as soon as I know something more.

Robin

Email From the Doctor

We finally received an email from Nicholas’ doctor.  He is going to try to schedule a bronchoscopy for Nick on Tuesday, July 15th. 

A bronchoscopy means that Nicholas will be put to sleep and the doctor will go down into his lungs with a lighted camera to look around.  They will be looking for areas that are inflamed or show any other signs of infection.  They will also squirt in some normal saline and then suction it back out to test to see what organisms he is growing.  Over the last few months he has been growing staph and pseudomonas, but sometimes a patient cannot cough up some of the things that may be growing down deep in there.   Hidden bacteria can cause a decrease in lung function.  This is a way to make sure they haven’t missed anything.

Nicholas is not happy at the prospect of having to have this done and at the fact that we may not be able to go to camp.  Many things will determine whether or not we can go: what they find in the bronchoscopy, if he has to go on IV antibiotics, and if Miranda can have her cast removed, among other things.  He didn’t get to go last year because he was in the hospital, and he has been so excited about going to Caswell.  I told him that if we couldn’t go, maybe we could go somewhere else before school started back, but that isn’t the same and I know it isn’t, but what can I say?

We are praying that nothing new comes up in the cultures.  I know that everything happens for a reason, and everything is to glorify God, but this 15 year old is really having a hard time with that one.  Pray for peace for his heart.  Pray that he (and all of us) can accept whatever comes.   I’ll let you know what time the procedure is scheduled.

In His Grace, Robin

Hanging Out

Today we are just hanging out waiting for news from the doctor’s office about Nicholas’ bronchoscopy.  We have not heard anything so far this week, so I sent the email this morning as instructed.  So now we wait and see.  I don’t really like wait and see.  I really am an impatient person.  Can’t help it.  It’s in my genes.  Alas, I am here waiting.  When I hear anything at all, I will post.

I hope everyone is having a GREAT day!