The news is in! They want to kick us out of here on Sunday morning!

Judah will be coming home with a pretty big list of health concerns, and needs to be followed closely by our Cardiologists in Pittsburgh, but once he gets out of a hospital bed, a LOT will surely improve quickly. Continue reading →

Whew!

After a bit of a rocky start of life without a trach, Judah is healing and working hard toward going home!

So Judah, post extubation, retained A LOT of fluid, mostly around his lungs. He also required hefty doses of morphine while intubated, so withdrawal was very tough on him. However, this week he has turned a HUGE corner, kicked off the withdrawal and extra fluid and doesn’t need anymore oxygen! So now we really get to see Judah without tubes, wires or a TRACH!!! Continue reading →

Recovery is a process! Some things are easy, and some things take much longer.

Judah is having his “usual” recovery issues – he tends to retain a lot of fluid, particularly in his lungs. That makes breathing harder to do, and there are some non-invasive ways of dealing with that, and some more invasive ways if we need to. So far, we’re trying some diuretics and it seems to be helping. We’ll have to see if Judah needs any more help in getting rid of excess fluid.

He’s also still on quite a cocktail, and may be for several weeks. He spent a LOT of time on a very high dose of several addictive medications, so it’s a process to come off of them. Continue reading →

Happy St. Paddy’s Day!

Judah is celebrating in true Irish form – deep in withdrawal. Aside from the timed out bouts of discomfort, Judah is plowing headfirst into feeling better, as our Judah always does. He has no time for anything that stands in his way of playtime. He has even been pointing out the window at the sunny sky, telling me he wants to go outside. Continue reading →

We finally said goodbye to Judah’s breathing tube!

I wish I could say it’s been smooth sailing, but the past two days have been rocky. Judah’s throat, nose and adenoids have been very irritated by the breathing tube, causing a lot of bleeding. He’s been moved from heavy narcotics to weaning drugs, causing him a lot of hard withdrawal symptoms. And extubation was pretty scary. Continue reading →

So Judah is STILL sedated (ish). Tomorrow morning at 11:30, the surgeons will examine his reconstruction and size down his breathing tube if everything looks as it should. Then, if all is going well, the breathing tube will come out on Tuesday and hopefully we can say goodbye to all the crazy meds and see how he does with no trach at all! I’m hoping things get very loud this week.

I say sedated(ish) because Judah is our little warrior and still fighting like a champion! Continue reading →

It’s Thursday!!!

Judah has been sedated for nearly a week at this point, and even though I’ve been right by his side, I miss him terribly. Though as I sit by his bedside, I think of all the mothers who have watched over their ill and healing loved ones throughout the ages, and I’m proud to carry on this ancient tradition. We have a lot more help these days, but Mom’s always here to make sure things are ok. That’s universal and timeless. Continue reading →