Thursday, April 29, 2010

update

Sweet Jonah is doing well. He was so tired, but, after some Tylenol, was playing and smiling in his room. Matt finally got him to sleep, and this is what he's up to as we "speak"...


The surgery went well, and when I went back to wrap his torso after they were done, it appeared there was only a tiny bit of blistering around the incision site. It wasn't even enough to drain at the time. I haven't taken the Lite (bandage) off to look at it since, but I've tried not to mess with him too much. If he acts okay when he wakes up, I'm going to try to take a better look.

I got to go in and help with securing the IV, pulse-ox, and leads. Actually, the doctors were gracious enough to let me kind of lead that process, and I did pretty much everything but the actual IV. They were WONDERFUL, especially Dr. S, our anesthesiologist, who happens to be a former Young Lifer. :)

This is me between prep and the post-op rewrapping. I came out to wait with the family during the actual surgery. They would have let me stay the whole time, but I didn't want to be in there for the cutting.


Flattering photo, huh?

While the anesthesiologist was finishing up and the surgeon was waiting to start, I kept asking him (the surgeon) if he watched doctor shows and what he thought about Grey's Anatomy. I also cracked some (inappropriate) joke about Grey's, saying something like, "Hey, when we run out of plot lines, we'll just make them have sex in the on-call room." And in my head the whole time I was saying to myself, "Self, just SHUT-UP. Seriously, stop talking now."

What can I say? I joke around when I'm nervous.

But seriously, it was a great experience all the way around, and the only reason I was smiling like that is because of all your prayers and how incredibly AT PEACE I felt. Don't get me wrong, I was crying on the way to the hospital and completely lost it while holding Jonah as he got loopy and started to giggle because of the drugs. But when we went to that OR, it was like a peace washed over me, I went into "get 'er done" mode, and everything went so well. I know that the peace I felt and my ability to remain unemotional (or low emotional anyway) was straight from God.

But enough about me. Jonah has come through, so far, like a champ and is doing well. He's been fussy some, but has also smiled and played. He's sleeping peacefully in Daddy's arms. His breathing seemed pretty raspy to me before he fell asleep, but I think it might have just been that he was overly tired, because his breathing sounds pretty good now, while he sleeps.

Some of you like specifics to pray for so here they are:
- for his trachea and breathing; that no damage was done during intubation
- for any blistering or irritation that may occur around the button
- that he won't rip his IV out (which is in the top of his foot)
- that he can have a peaceful night's rest (he really needs it)

Baby J's waking up now, so I better run. Thanks again for all the love and prayers.

Oh, and I also wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all the EB parents/friends who helped me get that list together. It was compiled from all their suggestions they sent me through email. You guys are so awesome, and today would not have gone as well as it did without you, not even close. Thank you for helping me help Jonah. Love you guys so much!

22 comments:

Amy's Avenue Blog! said...

Praying for Jonah and your family! I am so thankful things went well!

Kim M said...

A great big THANK YOU for the update - checking in every little bit to see how he is doing. hard to believe how much you can love someone you are not related too and have never met. Praising God and petitioning for a smooth healing process.

Beth said...

We are keeping little Jonah in our prayers!!

Praise God that the surgery went well!

Blessings

Anonymous said...

So glad everything went well. Our family has been praying for your family all week.

mom in iowa said...

First off, I am so glad that your prayers were answered and the surgery went well; what a blessing.
Second, I want you to know how AMAZING I think you are. What a lucky guy Jonah is to have you as his mommy (& advocate)
And third, man, i just can't get enough of your sweet baby boy's smile. He is just absolutely beautiful!!
I will continue to keep all of you in my prayers.

Christine said...

YAYYYY Jonah!! And Praise God for the great doctors who listened to you and took your suggestions to heart and took such good care of Jonah!!

Praying for a peaceful night!!

Laura A said...

PRAISE GOD!!! I've been checking off and on throughout the day and this is the update I've been waiting for! Thank you so much for sharing all of this with us!

The Little A's (especially Caroline and Jackson) will be so happy to hear this - I know they prayed for Jonah at school today.

Continuing to pray and hope you all rest well!

Love,
Laura

PS - love the lab coat - you're now officially "Dr. Patrice!" :)

Nora Lee said...

Thank you so much for updating us all about Jonah today. So thankful for God's blessing.

Anonymous said...

Such good news. So glad he looks so good and glad you could go in with him. That makes total sense--you are the expert!

Amanda said...

so, so glad to hear little J is doing well. I will pray for the specifics and for you and Daddy too. Jonah is loved by so many that do not know, and will never meet him,

dragonflyz in June said...

We are so happy that it went so well and that he is handling it all like a champ. I am so happy for you that you had peace, I can imagine that I would have gone to pieces when he started to go under, a mom's protective nature. We will continue to pray, keep us posted on his progress.

Peace & Blessings
Crystal

Unknown said...

praise Jesus everything went well! Still praying for your little jonut! he is sooo precious! i love reading about ya'll. You crack me up girl~ much love and blessings ~erin

Unknown said...

Praise the Lord! Praying for sweet sleep for all of you tonight.

God is good!

Our life is a bowl of Barry's said...

I am really happy to hear he is doing so great and that the hospital staff has been SOOO wonderful to you guys. It's good to hear those kind of stories since most of the time it seems medical staff create a bad rap for themselves. Praying for a good night for all of you!

Nicole said...

I wonder what he will think about all this...
Did you explain to him the reasons of his surgerie?
I hope things will be easier for all of you.
Glad to know you were listened to and respected...
That is rare!
God bless you and your family.

Kara said...

praise God for such good news :) thanks for keeping us posted. and yeah for "young lifers" too :)

Lari said...

I'm so glad everything went well. Will keep praying as he heals up. Hope you can get some rest too!

Kathy said...

*WOW* Patrice, I was going to compose a long message about how wonderful baby Jonah is (and of course he is) but I have to hand it to you, you are a rockstar!! I am so happy everything went so smoothly and that you weren't a nervous wreck but a calm, cool, collected advocate for your baby. I just know that you're going to have such a sense of relief now that you're not worrying about every ounce of liquid Jonah takes in. What will you do with all that extra time on your hands?? (honestly, we truly need a sarcasm font right??) Saying extra prayers that Jonah sleeps well tonight and for no problems in recovery!! God is good! -Kathy

Geri Kelly said...

So glad things went so well!

trooppetrie said...

praying, i laugh when i am nervous too

Emily said...

Once again, I'm amazed by you.. what a mom who practically assists in her son's surgery! Jonah is so blessed to have you as his mom. God knew exactly what he was doing =). I'm praying that his little throat is healing and he has no complications. And of course, I'm thankful he's dong well overall. He's such a strong little man.

Unknown said...

I am so happy to hear that all has gone wel & that he is resting comfortably. I will (as always) keep your family in my thoughts & prayers!!