1 month post Glenn

Wow has time flown. Yesterday marked 1 month since Eli had his second open heart surgery. He is continuing to do great and amazes us everyday.

 He had a wonderful Thanksgiving and we enjoyed spending the day with my family. He was kinda cranky that day, a wonderful mix of stomach problems and teething. Poor kid cried a whole lot more than normal, he was probably overwhelmed with all the Fitzgerald family. Oh well, he has to get used to it someday :).

 Eli received his first Synagist shot on November 18th. This shot is to help protect him against RSV (link for more info) and he will get it once a month for 5 months. The RSV months are from November until March. Typical healthy babies don't get this shot only high risk and cardiac babies. It would just be a horrible cold for most people, to Eli it's life threatening. In fact it is so important for these cardiac babies to get them, insurance HAS to cover them. These shots cost over $1,000 a piece but  it's cheaper for insurance to cover them than to pay for a hospital stay if one of these babies get sick.

My big boy!

 In two days Eli goes for his 4 month check up, never mind the fact that he is almost 6 months. His checkup was delayed because the pediatrician didn't want to do immunizations before surgery and the surgeons don't want immunizations for 30 days post op. So on Wednesday we will find out where Eli places in height and weight for his age and he will get some more shots. Hopefully he has caught up a tad bit.

Friday December 2nd we go back to see Dr. Husayni the pediatric cardiologist so they can check up on his heart. He will hopefully also get a visit from his speech and physical therapist. We are having some problems getting Eli to take a bottle all of the sudden. I suspect he discovered how nasty his high calorie formula really tastes. That stuff is like drinking glue, gross!! He also doesn't have full neck control and I will take most of the blame for that. I hate hearing him cry while doing tummy time. I can't imagine putting pressure on my breastbone after having open heart surgery.

Eli met Santa yesterday and he loved it! Bass Pro Shop in Bolingbrook has a wonderful set up of winter wonderland and you get a free picture with Santa. I'm not ready to share the picture yet because it may be one I use on our Christmas cards. He didn't cry or get scared (he may be too young) and just looked at Santa and his wonderful white beard. I can't believe that in less than 2 weeks my baby will already be 6 months old!!!

The Glenn

Early Thursday morning on October 27th we headed to Hope Children's Hospital. We were to be there by 5:30am for a 7:30am surgery. Rafe, Eli and I all checked in and went to day surgery holding room where the nurse checked all of Eli's vitals. The surgery nurse, the ENT and the anesthesiologist all came in to do pre-surgery reviews and ask us if we had any questions.

  Well 7:30 came and went, around 8 we finally got word that they had an emergency and wouldn't get to Eli until 9 or 9:30.  Around 9:40 we found out that the emergency surgery was taking a little longer than expected. The surgery nurse finally came for him around 11:15am and gave us about two minutes to say good luck and send Eli on his way. We were promised updates every hour and a half to two hours.
 
   The surgery went smoothly and he was only gone from us for about 4 hours. We got to see him around 3:30 and in my opinion he looked great. He looked like a puffy and very pink version of the Eli I know. He had this line across his torso where you could see the increase in blood flow. They called it the "Glenn Line"  ------>
and it was gone the next day. He had no breathing tube when we got to see him just a little oxygen running into his nose. He was pretty fussy and seemed to be in some pain. They say that most babies come out of this surgery like that, the increased blood flow can cause them to have headaches and possibly even high blood pressure. He was well taken care of in the pain relief department and by the next day was doing great.

  When Rafe and I got to him on Friday morning he was awake and seemed pretty comfortable. He got to begin eating his normal formula around lunch time and I'm sure that made him happy. Dr. VanBurgen who I must say is amazing, kept a very close eye on him throughout his stay in the PSHU. Eli did test positive for MSSA so he had to have this medicated ointment rubbed inside his nose to "decolonize" the infection. It wasn't a big deal they just wanted to be careful since he just had surgery. That meant we had to wear these yellow gowns and gloves anytime we or anyone else was in the room. By the last day I gave up and stopped wearing the stuff. It's not like we would be wearing it at home with him.

  Five days post surgery we got to bring Eli home. He got a few new medicines and got to drop a few also. There was no oxygen required and not too horrible of restrictions either. We can lift him from his armpits for 6 weeks and we need to avoid large crowds for a month so his immune system can build itself up again. He has been doing great and I've only had to give him tylenol once. His throat is still a little rough from having the breathing tube down it during surgery so we're hoping that clears up soon. We don't want any throat problems again!

 So hopefully that is our last hospital visit until his third surgery at about 18-24 months old. He is our little trooper and we are so proud of him!