A firm heart surgery date has been set for October 15th. I say firm date because that is the date that we have reserved on the schedule. There is a slim chance that we may get the surgery done on September 22nd, however that date is dependent on the surgical load of the doctor leading up to that date. The 22nd is a Monday and the surgeon likes to keep Mondays mostly freed up in the event more emergent cases arise over the weekend. So we are planning on the 15th of October, but don’t be alarmed if we pop up at the last minute and go for the 22nd of September. The surgeon is going to be out of the country for part of September or we would have likely got in sooner. I understand that there was availability before he leaves the country but Caden’s case is complex enough that he wanted to see it all the way through recovery.
Off to the ER
The big hurdle that we have to get past at this point is the avoidance of colds and infections. As I write this Sherry is on her way to the Emergency Room at MUSC with Caden. We took turns sitting up with him the entire night last night due to an excessive amount of secretions. This was causing Caden to have difficulty sleeping. He was coughing and gagging constantly until about 5:30 this morning when things finally improved a little. Since Caden has been unable to swallow since birth the presence of excessive secretions has always presented an aspiration risk which can lead to pneumonia. As the night went on a fever popped up and it topped out at 104 F. Normally we do not let a 104 fever by itself alarm us as long as it comes down pretty quick with Tylenol and/or Motrin. We usually give both meds at the same time and expect the fever to drop within the hour and it did as usual. The problem this time is that Caden is already on a fairly strong anti-biotic as I wrote about last week. This is actually the third different antibiotic in a row with extended doses. By extended dose I mean that Caden typically will get 20 days of an antibiotic rather than the normal 10 days. So a talk with his pediatrician and a reappearance of the fever early this afternoon left us with no choice but to get Caden examined to make sure there is no fluid on his lungs.
Prayer Requests:
* Whole body healing for Caden, as always
* Continued protection from infections, colds, and all illnesses (Caden is on his third antibiotic for sinus junk in less than a month)
* Continued discernment for the doctors and us.
* Continued strength and peace for Sherry and me.
* Protection over all our boys’ emotions.
Riley suggested today that the malfunctioning pacemaker that needs to be removed from Caden’s stomach might be causing the current fever and secretions. While that is not likely it is very insightful especially coming from a five year old. he would have me add that he is almost six. (October 18th) I do still wonder about the little cyst looking area beside the g-tube site. We have been battling fevers on and off for more than a month.
Thanks for keeping track of us. Please continue to pray for our little Caden and the rest of our family.