Showing posts with label Broviac. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Broviac. Show all posts

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Hey, hey, hey...Goodbye!

Walker's medical supplies for his broviac have been taking over our dining room table for months now. Ever since he came home to be exact. Tonight I finally got my butt in gear and took care of the matter.

Those three huge boxes are filled with medical supplies! Flushes, syringes, alcohol wipes, patches, etc. The folder is filled with "receipts" of when Nurse Yolanda came over and what she did and all that other medical junk. The three boxes are bio hazard boxes where we put the used syringes and needles and I have to mail those back to some place. The two boxes on the bottom are the TPN and Omegavan pump boxes that they need to come pick up. 

Everything is ready to be returned or trashed. Finally! I don't know why I have held on to these things for so long, but farewell junk! R asked if I wanted to keep a flush "just in case". Just in case what, sweetie? No one is hooked up anymore! Silly guy!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

First Bath After Surgery

We had to wait two days to take the first patch off. We opted out of giving him a bath those two days...NEVER AGAIN!

 Walker loves his baths. LOVES THEM! He has a bath every night and we wash his hair every other day. He takes a bedtime bubble bath, gets lathered in bedtime lotion, has a bottle and sleeps the entire night. It just works for him and for us. The two nights we didn't give a bath, Momma was up almost every hour consoling or playing his crib soother. Terrible.

Just took the patch off and going for the heart next.

OUCH! Look how red! Walker didn't mind at all.


Tuesday, July 10, 2012

And it's gone!


Walker is Broviac free!

I called and called his surgeon, Dr. Naik's office repeatedly on Monday morning. No one would answer. Finally around 3pm a secretary called back and was explaining to me all the instructions. At the end of our conversation I asked her when was Walker scheduled and she told me the next morning. Gee thanks! As excited as I was, I was pretty nervous. 

The instructions were simple. No formula or milk after midnight; Walker goes to bed at 6:30 so I knew this would not be fun. His appointment was for 9:30am but we had to arrive at 7:30; Walker wakes up at 6:30 and is always ready to eat. We woke up and got ready and R went out to start the Tahoe. The battery was dead. Fantastic way to start the morning. We've had a lot of rain and it's cooled down just a little so we knew that was the reason. By this time, Walker is crying crocodile tears and is not happy. But, he was super excited to see Daddy.

We arrived and Walker was checked in and had his vitals taken. They have rolls of stickers and Daddy picked out Thomas the Train for Walkie.

"Look Mommy, Daddy!"

"You better not leave Daddy"

"Just dancing and exercising, nothing to see here"






After an explosive diaper and a pajama change, Walker took a little nap.
 We were taken back to the pre-op room where Walker was given this cute little outfit! It was a top with draw string bottoms. The top was huge as you can see.


 Walker took another cat nap while we waited for about an hour and a half. It was 11am at this point and Walker could NOT be without his pacifier.

We were super excited to see Dr. Naik, as was she to see us. She took a picture of Walker and couldn't stop staring. She's such a great surgeon. She didn't want to intubate but anesthesiology had a different plan. She's a tough cookie. She can rip you a new one with the sweetest tone in her voice and with a sincere smile across her face. She's fierce!

We walked over to the Pavilion for Women and had lunch. Their food court has the best fried green beans. By the time we were finished and walked over to the surgery waiting room, the procedure was complete. We talked with Dr. Naik and she wants to follow Walker for a little while. Everyone is amazed at Walker. If it wasn't for her eagerness to want to open Walker up in those early days, who knows what would have happened or how much more gut he would've lost. We LOVE Dr. Naik. She is Walker's surgeon and we have/will always request her.

We were taken back to the surgery recovery room. This was a totally different outcome than when he had the Broviac implanted, you can see his pictures here. He was screaming crying and not happy whatsoever. Of course he wanted his Momma and his pacifier and things started to calm down. They gave him another dose of some pain meds and he fought hard, but finally took a small nap. We weren't allowed to leave until his saturation levels were at 96. He came back from surgery in the 96's so that's what he had to have to leave. Walker's range is in between 90-94. No one would listen though. R had to hold him vertically and we finally got it up. His recovery nurse thought he needed oxygen.

We put Walker in his car seat and headed home. He was crying and we put the Thomas the Train sticker in front of his face, he grabbed it, and held it and wouldn't let it go.

He stayed awake the whole drive home looking out the window. When we got home he just wanted to kick back and relax with Daddy. We switched him to his big boy pajamas and just lounged for the rest of the day. 
 He decided since he was a big boy now that he would try to feed himself.
 He almost has it down!

Happy as a clam and giving a duck/smoochie face!

Bumpy gums
 Dr. Naik is so sweet. She cut a hand shape gauze out and put it on Walker's chest.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

8 Months Old!


Slow down time. Give us longer days, Lord.

Walker is wearing 6 month clothes and 9 month sleepers. His 6 month sleepers fit him but they are tight. Daddy doesn't appreciate Walker being in tight clothes when he's sleeping.

We love you so much Little Bird. You are more than everything we've always wanted.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

First Time in the Bathtub

Because of Walker's broviac, he isn't allowed to be submerged in water. Well, this Momma got tired of is horrible diaper rash that wasn't going away, so I put him in the bathtub.




And he LOVED it! The only thing we have to do is not get the dressing wet. You see that circle thing? That's his antibiotic sponge-y thing and under it is the incision site. It still has sutures but this Friday will be 6 weeks and then we'll be able to give him a bath and get it wet.

This is what it looks like without the dressing.

The redness is from peeling off the dressing. It doesn't bother him.
He was kicking his feet and moving his arms and smiling!

So we've been putting him in his bathtub for the week and the other day he was really upset that he had to get out. He had a meltdown the size of Texas when I took him out. I was really afraid that he would not like water because he hasn't been in it before.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Dietician and Another Pedi Appoitment

Walker had two appointments on Friday, one with the dietician and another with the pediatrician.

His dietician is happy with his weight gain, he's up to 11 pounds 8 ounces! He is now up to 90cc which is 3 ounces. We meet with the dietician at the end of this month and we will start talking about solids. She did tell me that we will most likely be dropping the time on TPN/Omegaven this week! YES!

The pediatrician appointment went well also. He is referring us to a ENT because he's pretty sure Walker has damage to one of his vocal cords. It happens. Walker was intubated for 8 weeks and then reintubated for surgeries, so it's most likely true. These self correct themselves. He'll most likely have a raspy voice.

This week we have ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) coming out to start the process of at home services. PT (physical therapy) will be joining. And we have a dreadful ophthalmologist appointment. What a great week!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Pictures of our 1st week home!

We had an appointment with his GI doctor on Friday. We are supposed to go with her scale since they will be following Walker closely and regularly. He weighed 10 pounds 4 ounces on their scale. We meet with the dietician again in 10 days and he'll be weighed again. Hopefully, crossing fingers, we will be able to cut down on the time his TPN is ran throughout the day.  These pictures are from that day.
"Are we at the stinkin' hospital again?"

"Chilling in my stroller"

Hey there happy blurry guy!

"My dad is SO funny!"

"Do it again Dad!"

"Stop it! You're so funny!"

"Hello lady!" A lady walked in and this is the face she got from Walker!

Cheesin'!
 Texas weather is the best. It's been a good 80 degrees for a week. Then BAM! A day of rain and cool weather blew in. Walker has outgrown newborn sized clothes and when we went shopping for 0-3 months, we bought shorts. So I had to stuff his chubby body into newborn clothes. This is what he thought of it.
"Are you serious Mom?"
 We had two birthday parties in one day. One, that we weren't invited to but seeing as it was family, we showed up. Don't even get me started on that. The second party was for a sweet little 1 year old girl. We decided to put Walker in the Baby Bjorn since it is the easiest way to lug him around.
Dad practicing.
 For the record, Walker loved it!
Crashed after his busy day of birthday parties.

Chub a wubba!
These next pictures are of Walker watching the dogs walking around. 
"You see that Momma?"

"What are those things?"

"Get it away!"

"Get it away!!!"


"Toodles!"