Day 48: Still doing great!

Day 48.Cow on his head!

He just woke up at 8pm. I sat him on that chair and later he was playing with those med pumps:). He likes to pushed buttons.

I was able to get out of the hospital yesterday and be home with my hubby last night. I attended a party hosted by the cardiac department here at St. Joe's. It was a fun event. I just didn't get a chance to get pictures when I was there. The event was dedicated for all the families who have babies with the heart defect. In this way, some parents can meet other families with different kinds of heart defect and share their experiences. I was in this kind of group before and those families that I met were really helpful to my family. I had a lot questions that I couldn't get any answers by just asking myself or the internet, personal experiences is more informative than online services.

Anyways, we have Nurse Gigi (Filipina)last night, and we were very comfortable leaving GJ with her. I knew her and took care of GJ since he was a baby and she is a trustworthy person. I get to go home last night, and I was hoping to get some good night sleep. However, my poor husband couldn't sleep and keep tossing and turning that wake me up all the time. I had to get up at 3:30 am and had some cereal for an very early morning snack:). I went back to bed afterwards. We got up early to be at the hospital with Gerald. We came here about 6 am and Gerald just woke up according to the nurses. Gerald slept through out the night. That is good! He probably didn't know that I was gone home.

Overall, Gerald looks really good. He have some breathing issues, but his lungs sounds clear according to all the doctors. Hoping to go home by Wednesday:) I am so excited! Then mommy can go in labor hehehehe.

Also, I would like to extend my gratitude to nurse Gigi for taking such a good care of my Gerald.
Thanks a lot nurse Gigi!

Day 46: Feel Fresh

Gerald has been sleeping all the long for almost 3 days now. Sometimes I have to wake him and sat him up so that he can be more movable. His numbers were looks good that doesn't give enough reason to be concern according to the ICU doctors. We will probably here until next week just to finish the dose of his antibiotics. Rather than the antibiotics and some 02 problem , he is doing really well. Here are some pictures that I took today.

He looks handsome because he just took a bath:) He was watching sponge bob.

Pretending to be a cute little boy:)

Hello There!

Just looking at the selling:) hehehe

I feel so good and clean! Yehey... thanks to nurse Nicole and mom for bathing me today:)

Day 45: Playful Mood

Day 45

We were suppose to go home today as what the nurses told me earlier. However, GJ was kept vomiting yesterday and even this morning, so they hold us again. The nurses and other medical professional here at St. Joe's were trying hard to get our stuff done in the timely manner, and they are making sure that once we go home we won't have file of bills. Gerald needs an oxygen at home plus he has a lot of medications. I was afraid that once we go home the insurance will not covered all of those medications and we will ended up paying it. Right now money is kinda tight in my family. Anyway, the social workers here and the nurses are helping us for all of Gerald's needs. Thanks a lot for their help.

This is the picture of Gerald and Ginger (RT). She was giving him a breathing treatment. Gerald's upper throat has a lot of think mucus, so the doctor ordered a breathing treatment every four hours. He hated it, as you can see his legs were on her arm. It was pretty fun the first time because he cornered her with his fours.

Anyway, here is the video of nurse Vicky and Gerald. Gerald had a morning emesis yesterday, so I had to put him in the wagon so that I can change his beddings. Nurse Vicky was GJ's nurse since he was born and just yesterday we finally got to have her working with Gerald. When nurse Vicky did her morning assessment, Gerald helped her out by putting the stethoscope on his right (chest) lung so that she can hear his lung. Nurse Vicky was very happy to see him smile and playful.
Thanks a lot Ms. Vicky!

Also, later yesterday afternoon Gerald's uncle came by and played with him with his favorite cow. Gerald was smiling and tossing cow on the floor. His uncle Glenn will pick it up and give it back to him and he will do the same thing. It was nice of uncle Glenn to come by even though he was very busy at home. Thanks to uncle Glenn for coming and spending time with GJ.

Day 42: Just another day

Gerald has some issues of having temperature every now and then. Therefore, we might not be going home until sometimes this weekend. I also requested to have a PT to work with him so that I will know what to do when we go home. Gerald is not walking yet after the surgery. He was trying too this afternoon, but he was very weak. He even fall asleep on us during the therapy session. Another, he have some breathing issues too. He have tons of think mucus in his throat that makes a gurgling noise when he is asleep. The nurse has to suction him when he needs to. He sat on the chair for two hours and didn't complain at all.
Anyway, overall Gerald is doing better now.


*****Ralph in front of St. Joe's hospital*****

*****Our family picture for today ******

***** GJ was watching the TV again*****

Day 42 in the Hospital...he really looks good!

Smile of an Angel

Here is the video of Gerald jay today. He was in a good mood that he even show us his smile for few minutes. I was really happy to see him smile after almost four weeks of battling the MRSA infection. He was really agitated this afternoon. The nurse gave him some sleepy juice(meds), and he calms down for half an hour. When he woke up, he looks like having a seizure. The RT was in our room when that happened, and he said its just withdrawing from all medication. After the RT left I gave Gerald like more than 60 cc of thickened water. He drunk the water in less than 5 seconds. I said "wow". Anyway, after that I opened the curtain so that the nurses that are passing by can see him just in case he falls on the floor or something ( he is lying on the adult bed) while I'm in the restroom. I was about to leave him when I saw him smiling and talking. I can't help talking video of him. This is his first smile for a long time. I would say that he is definitely recovering from all those painful experiences after the surgery.
Thanks to our Almighty God!

Agitated

This is Gerald today, he looks really good.

Me and my belly (bb. Kathlyn) standing by Gerald's bed

What a pose! He was spread out like an eagle :-)

Ralph stayed with Gerald the lastnight, and I went home to do some cleaning. I was hoping to get some goodnight sleep at home, but it never happened because I was paranoid of every little noise that I heard from the outside. Anyway, before I left last night Gerald was awake and very calm. But Gerald didn't have a good night sleep either. I am concerned because he didn't sleep well the night before too, and he was awake the whole day. I don't want him to go back where he had heart beat problem again, so I told the nurse to let him sleep (not doing any assessment).
I came back around 12noon today, and he was very agitated ( makes me concern again). But the nurse said that it might be the medicine that he was on, and they are trying to wean him off from all those medications. His heart rate is higher again, but his 02 level is stable to mid 80's (good). Around 1:30 when the nurse gave him some happy juice (sleeping meds) and he went right to sleep for 3 hours. While he was asleep his heart rate went back to normal. Then when he woke he was acting like a little crazy guy. Grabbing everything that on his bed or whatever he can grab on. I saw him trying to pulled his IV too, I have to stopped him right away. I told the nurse that he was acting up again. She gave him morphine and he went to sleep again but his heart rate was still higher. The nurse practitioner spent more time in our room again because of that. We were happy not to see those nurses more often in our room, but today they were here to see what is going on with him. They thought Gerald might be a little bit dry, so they gave him more plasma fluid. Other than this small event today, Gerald is still looking great and hopefully to feel better too.

Another wonderful day

Video taken today after I held Gerald on my lap.

I was taking his video when the surgeon came by, and I have to stop the first video and start all over again. Anyway, this is him today, he looks very comfortable and conscious. He hasn't smile for me yet , but he will get there.

Another day of positive recovery.

GJ's update for today! No breathing Tube!

He was extubated couple hours ago and he looks really good. He was not fussy, he just lying calm and watching cartoons program on the television.

This picture was when they are ready to remove the breathing tube.

He knows what was going on. He criesd a little bit!

Gerald stayed very calm. The RT's are preparing to extubate him.

With nurse Maryrose...she was emptying his stomach by drawing out some of the air and fluid by a syringe.

He is progressing a little bit now. Hopefully this is a positive steps for him. Let's pray for him that this is the last time for him to have that breathing tube.

Just another day !

Last night, GJ was trying to remove the breathing tube by moving his head from side to side. He managed to detached the 02 connector (blue and white tubing). He did it couple times before the night shift ends.

Picture of GJ after they removed the staples on his chest.
I was watching the nurse practitioner cutting the staple off his chest, and every time she picked it I say "ouch" for my son's behalf.

This picture taken this morning. He was sleeping comfortably.

Today, he is doing great ( but still ventilated). He is going to have a heart catheterization its either by Tuesday or Wednesday. They also did a blood culture, urine culture , and sputum culture to test if MRSA is still present in his body. He had the temperature this afternoon that is why they did these test.
The blood culture last Saturday came back negative, so that is a good news.
Nothing is exciting happened for today as far as GJ is concerned.

Quite Day

Gerald had an electrocardiogram this morning. As the cardiologist look at the possibilities of what causing Gerald's lungs to not functioning well, he found blood clot in the vein from his lower extremities and going up to the aorta. The doctor didn't think that it might be the cause of his problem right now, but they want to deal with it before it become a major problem. He is now getting a heparin shot on his belly couple times a day. Ouch! but that will make him get better in the long run.
So far, he was doing great although he is intubated again. His heart functioned real well. As what the cardiologist told me this morning he might just have fluid built up in his lungs and he needs to drained all those fluids through urination. As they said dry lung is a good lung.
They also tried to use nitrite oxide machine to help his lungs, but it was not helping him at all. At this time he have great numbers , his stats were in the high 80's and his heart beat were in the 130's. He have 24 breaths per minute so that's good. I hope that one day when he is ready for the breathing tube to come out, he will keep in the positive healing process.
I will keep praying for his fast healing and I know all my friends and family does it to and thank you very much for your prayers.

Intubated Again!

February 28, 2009

Last day of this month! Sigh…I was hoping that GJ will continue to have a great day everyday after they removed the breathing tube. So far I don’t know what to say… I am very sad to say this that he is back with breathing tube again. Last night before I went to bed he was doing alright although he was not saying any words. I went to bed around 12mn after I cleaned him up and everytime I open my eyes to check on him, he was already checking on me. I was surprised because it seems that he was watching me while I was asleep. Around 2am I decided to stay up with him. He was not fussy at all, he was just lying on his bed. Then later around 3:30am he started to rolled around in his crib. He was very restless, he even manage to pulled the vital signs monitor out of the box and it fell on the floor. He tangled himself with all the cords that was connected to his body, he turned round 365 degrees, which was causing his IV to bleed. He kept his nurses on toes between last night and today.
Today, he woke up around 7:30 am when the doctors came in. I thought he was gonna have another beautiful day today, but the notion that I felt turned around. Around 10:30 am when I took a peek on him before I was gonna take a shower; however, I saw him taking off his feeding tube and O2 canula and breathing very labored. So, few nurses came in to our room and take a look at him. The next time that I know is that doctor came and told me that he needs another breathing tube. I was not surprised at all , because I can see how harder he breathes and I have no other choice. As much as I hate to see him with the ventilator, it would be better for him anyways to help his lungs to function well. The doctor suspected that he might have a pneumonia or the MRSA infection is still working in his body. It is very frustrating because I can't help him. I was hoping that he can go home next week so that he can visit his grandpa. But he turned the other way around. I took some video of him in the morning which is very different than the afternoon video.

I still don't lose hope though, and I do believed that God will take care of him always. I just need to have more faith in him.

GOD IS GOOD, AND HE IS OUR HEALER.

Video of Gerald in the morning. He was breathing harder already.
He was sitting on the foam chair and watching his favorite kids movie.

This is GJ's video in the afternoon. Intubated again.
His lungs was not doing what it supposed to do.

Its another blessed day of GJ's recovery

Video of Gerald today 2-26-09

Today , I would say the best day ever after the emergency surgery of Gerald that happened last 12th of February. His appearance has a dramatic improvement since Sunday . His face looks normal now and less swollen, but his stomach is still bigger than normal. He only have one major IV on his left thigh ( this IV will stay for quite sometime because he needs to have the full dose of antibiotics and its deliver through intravenously). Also, he is on the high dose of O2, I think 7liters 100 % /hour. I can't really remember how exactly the dosage of oxygen is given. He is back on his feeds. As the amount of milk per ml goes up, the nurses will turn down the amount of nutrition that Gerald getting through his IV. He's still on the low dose of pain meds, but I think they are going to wean him off with that by tomorrow. Therefore, he might just have the oral medicine afterwards and he can be walking anything soon.

Another, since he was really awake today, we was able to watch the television. But he kept me on my toes, I have to always reposition him because he always lying vertically on his bed. They want him on in upright position so that he can have a normal function of his lungs. He sound congested so far, but if he can just cough all the white plem in his throat he would be sound a whole lot better.
Anyway, it was a pleasant day for all of us here. Thank God for keeping my son in HIS powerful healing hand.
And to all my friends that offered prayers for him. God bless you and I hope you will continue to pray for him. I appreciated your help very much!
God Bless us all!

Good day today after 14th day in bed

Gerald was watching TV and his big brother came to visit.

♥ I don’t want to say things ahead of time, but I think today is one of those wonderful days that happened to Gerald after the major surgery and after they removed his breathing tube. He looks happier and more comfortable. This morning, I woke almost 8am, and Gerald’s nurse Tiffany told me that they are going to removed GJ’s chest tube. I was barely awake but at the same time I answered “okay” to her. I was gonna go back to bed but the nurse practitioner put on a gown and gloves and ready to remove GJ’s chest tube. The nurse gave Gerald a pain meds so that he cannot feel anything. I was watching them pulled the tube and for Gerald it was nothing because he slept through it. Anyway, we started a beautiful morning and until the end of the day. The only problem that Gerald had was congestion. The Respiratory therapist kept suctioned his nose and mouth to get raid of the flame (can’t spell) in his throat. Also, Gerald was feeling well today I saw him smiled again for few seconds only. The reason why he smiled is because I turned on the TV and it was a cartoon program sponge boob. He like sponge boob. Anyway, it was a wonderful day today and Gerald looks really good. I hope this is the beginning of the beautiful week of recovery. It was a huge improvement since last couple days past. Praise God that He keeps Gerald in his powerful healing hand.

My husband and I are very happy to see him getting much better everyday.

Gerald has been extubated today

I would say that today is a good day for Gerald. He has been on the breathing tube for two weeks and doctors were really concerned that he is not improving. Yesterday, they put a new folly catheter on him to help him urinate. Guess what? It did works , he was urinating like crazy within the twenty four hours. I was really trilled. He was not urinating normally for quite a while, and that is why he was so swollen. After Gerald urinated a few liters of fluid, the doctors decided to removed his breathing tube. I took a video of him calling me, and he was trying to wiggle around. I hope he'll keep breathing by himself, so that he will not need a breathing tube again.
I offered a prayer to God right and after they took the tube out.
Please Lord Jesus, keep him in your powerful healing hands.

Gerald's day 13 of being intubated

"Mary would you please help me!" GJ's nurse calling out for help to her co-worker . That is how I woke up this morning. I was in the corner of Gerald's room fast asleep ( even though few nurses I heard coming in and out in this room) when I heard nurse Nicole asking for help from her co- worker. I was suddenly jump out of the small bed and put a gown and gloves to helped her comforting GJ. He was not so happy. He wiggles and trying to get up; however, he should not be getting up yet because he still intubated. The nurse couldn't leave him to get his medication, because GJ was so strong and very persistent to do his own plans...getting up. Anyway, a good nurse came to rescue us and brought a prn medication for GJ to calm him down. After he had a dose of meds he fall asleep until 7:30 am.

He was gonna have a catheter on his abdomen to drain some of his excess fluid (due to the surgery he was susceptible of gaining fluid in his tissue). However, the doctor ordered to put a new folly catheter on him to help him urinate. I think this folly catheter really works because last night alone he pee more than 600 ml. If he continued to urinate and less swollen, he might not need to have the abdominal catheter done.

The plans for today is to extubate (remove the breathing tube) him. I hope he can manage not have the breathing tube although he is swollen. I just pray to God that all will be in his hands, and according to his will. Today is day 13 since GJ on his back. I hope that he can be more movable in few days.

Bed Bath for GJ

I was just helping of giving him a bath.

Nurse Nicole was the expert of giving him a bed bath. She took care of GJ since he was a baby, and also she was the one who gave him his first bath.

I was just helping the nurse to give him a bed bath last night. Although GJ was awake, he was fine with it. He always want to be cleaned up anyways.
Anyway, as far as his recovery is concern, he is slowly improving. I just spoke to the on call cardiologist few minutes ago, and he said that GJ is slowly progressing. Heart wise is looks good, and GJ's heart function well as they expected. I crossed my fingers for all the good recovery for him.
GJ still swollen and ventilated. This is day 11th of having that breathing tube. I could imagine how it feels like to have a tube in his throat. I bet it is very uncomfortable and painful, i would guess.

Also, I went home yesterday and do some house cleaning in the morning, and I attend a baby shower in the afternoon. When I was cleaning at home, I run across GJ's little shoes. I couldn't help to cry. I remembered how he use to give me his blue plastic shoes every morning, because he want to go out in the backyard and play with the chicken. He has been here for 3 weeks and my house usually emptied with his voice and his laughter. I missed all of those. I hope to see him moving around and smiling again soon.

I pray to our God to heal my son.

Swollen Gerald

Lord Jesus Christ the son of our Almighty God. Please touch my son with your powerful healing hand, so that he may have a fast recovery from his surgery.


We been here at the hospital for couple weeks and thing are going so slow. Sometime I feel like losing my energy just to look at my son's situation. I couldn't image how he feel now. Gerald's body might have fight the infection for the short period of time with the help of the antibiotics, but it doesn't mean that the infection is totally cleared up. The doctors told us that they are very positive now. The result of the blood culture for 3 consecutive days came back negative for infection in his blood stream.That is a good news in my book. I just couldn't help my self to think and feel very hopeless. Sometimes, I feel nervous and weak, but I have to be strong for my baby. If he is strong to fight all of these thing why can't I right?
O God, please help me!

The Journey of my Life: Another day at the Hospital

The Journey of my Life: Another day at the Hospital

Another day at the Hospital

Video of Gerald and nurse Maryrose while changing the dressing on his chest.

Happy Valentines day to all and to my family!

Today is just another day of us here at PCTICU -Pediatrics Cardiothoracic ICU. Gerald still intubated and very swollen. He is swelling due to the infection that prefuse or leaks out the blood vessels.
Also, they used staples on his skin to put his chest together. I was really surprised when the nurse said the used staple gun ( and you know what I mean) but staple gun for skin not for wood.
Anyway, he still swollen and sometime he wakes up crying. But they keep sedated. They increased the dose of his meds so that they can feed him and he won't wiggle a lot. So far his is not ready to remove his breathing tube. It may take few days before they do that, and when GJ is ready for sure.

Also, I would like to thank Maryrose for taking care of my baby, and Nicole King (night nurse) for taking such a good care of him last night and for letting me slept through the whole night. I felt very good today, because I got enough sleep. Thanks a lot to all our nurses here at ST. Joseph's Hospital.