Update

So things not really going the way we want. He is going in to have another heart catheterization done Mon-Tues to help decide on a new surgical plan as he is still in congestive heart failure because he has too much blood going to his pulmanory artery and then going to his lungs, which makes him breathe too fast and work very hard to breathe off the CO2 in the extra blood flowing through his lungs. So we should have a plan Monday evening- Tuesday morning to fix some remaining issues, hopefully the last plan we'll need.

Off the VENT!!!

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR AMAZING SUPPORT AND ABUNDANT GENEROSITY!!!
 Everett had a miraculas day today! He coughed early this morning and his vent tube came right out! A sure sign that he was no longer in need of the support. It was somewhat alarming to recieve the phone call this morning that he had ex-tubated himself, and was a bit startled. But a blessing none the less.... His legs are kicking, and his arms are reaching to now pull out his oxygen tubes.Those will need to stay in  for another day or so, while he is still in ICU. We will hopefully be out of ICU this next week! We are so incredibly relieved! He has come so far and we now can feel our trip home will be soon!! Much love and a huge gracious thank you for all of your support during the last few weeks!
The spagetti dinner was an unpresidented success thanks to all the beloved friends and family!! Everett could feel the loving energy each of you sent his way!!

Patience is A virtue

Everett has been off of the ECMO (life support) machine for 3 days, since Wednesday! Wuoo Whoooo!! What a relief and sure sign that the surgery went as hoped. He is still very sleepily sedated. They started feeding him breastmilk through a feeding tube yesterday. Everetts lungs need to open up a bit more before he can trial off of the ventilator.  He has been though so much. During surgery the lungs got quite a beating, the surgeons had to move them out of the way to get to the heart. Fluid built up in the lungs, and they  are suctioning quite a bit of blood and mucus out still, as well, he spiked a fever thursay morning early, which means he is fighting off a little flu bug.... Ahhh. The flu is generally occurs from being on the ventilator, little bacteria can grow, and from being on ECMO, his lungs didnt do much work for a week. So that basicly set his healing process back a week. The next big step is getting of the Vent! We are hoping he will be off by mid week, next week. Chris and I are hanging in there. Its been a true test of patience and acceptance. We do feel blessed that we see the sun shining through the clouds!

Post-Surgery

     Everette Surgery was a sucess, It was a long day for Everyone. He did have a post-op stormy course which Dr. Bove did warn us about. He said the first 24 hours after surgery are very critical. He said Everette may get sicker before he gets better. He did come back up to the Pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) on the ECMO machine which alot of children do after this type of surgery . The ECMO machine takes over the work of the heart and the lungs, which means this gives his heart time to rest . His blood flow is bypassed at this time from his heart to let it rest,,and this is where the ECMO machine comes in and flows the blood through the machine and the rest of his body . He seems to be doing much , much better at this posting  at 4:30am . He has a heart catherization scheduled for 7:00 am this morning to look at the all the Arteries and Veins , where the where was done yesterday just to make sure everything is in place and ready for his blood flow. His Pacemaker is keeping the heart beating just fine even though there is no flow through it.
Dr. Bove and the whole Cardiac team have very positive thoughts that Everette will be off of the ECMO machine within a few days and pumping blood on his own.  

Surgery Date

 Everette's Surgery is scheduled for tommorrow 2/3/10 at 7:30 am  they are going to do what is called a double switch operation, which is quite complex of a surgery. He is also going to have a pacemaker placed at this time. They surgery itself is suppose to be about 4 hours long the doctor's said . There is a problem with a Tricuspid valve that is also leaking that the Doctor's hope the surgery will relieve pressure on that valve so it is not quite so bad.