Cardiologist Visit

So, today we saw Dr. Puchalski for our post-surgery follow up. Adam and Jon Jon came with (Tay bug was at school). Ash was pretty good, but he was sleepy (which equals grumpy). Chest x ray looked good, though there is still some fluid in his lungs. Ash is on Lasix, which should help flush the extra fluid from his body. Also, we think the intermittent swelling he has had is just due to him having excess fluid in his body; the lasix should help with that also.

The silly Dr's at Stanford left some stitches in Asher that were supposed to be removed before his discharge. So, 2 weeks post-op, they finally got removed. Unfortunately, it's infected where the stitches entered his skin, because they were left in too long. And they couldn't pull the stitches all the way out (they are really long), so they had to leave some of it in. And now Asher has to take a medication to ward off the infection. Uggh. More reason to be frustrated with Stanford. Great surgeon, though!

It was interesting talking to Dr. Puchalski today. He was telling us all of the circumstances surrounding getting Asher an earlier surgery date. Apparently, he had a patient that was in an emergency situation, and needed immediate surgery. He called Dr. Reddy at home, and discussed that case. Patient flew out, and the next day had surgery. Dr. P called Dr. Reddy that day to follow up, and (in his words) the thought popped into his head that maybe Dr. Reddy could fit Asher into his schedule sooner, even though Dr. Hanley was booked out until October 13th. So, he asked Dr. Reddy if he could fit Asher in, and he said sure. Schedules were consulted, and next thing we knew we got the phone call to leave. At the time Dr. P first spoke with Dr. Reddy about getting us in sooner, Ash just started oxygen. By the time we got to California, he needed 3x's as much oxygen, and barely had saturation at 80%. The Dr.'s at Stanford say that had Asher not had his surgery bumped up, he wouldn't have made it to the October date, and he would have had to fly there as an emergency case.

So...my thoughts on all of that. I don't think Dr. P just randomly had a thought to talk to Dr. Reddy. I believe the Lord was looking out for us. He knew our needs, and Asher's condition. He prompted our Dr. to ask about getting Asher in sooner, and made it possible for the surgeon to fit us in. Everything just fell into place so well.

That's all for today. Adam is feeling neglected, and the kids are asleep. Yay! Quiet time! Enjoy some pictures from our day today (I finally charged the camera's batteries).

Sweet little Asher getting weighed. 6.68 kg/14.72 lbs!

Jon Jon was a very good boy during the entire appointment

Smiley!

He was super wiggly when she tried to get his pulse ox on. She had to tape it to his foot!

Adam relaxing after eating lunch at our friends' home.