Hangin' out!

Tyler continues to do well pulling the extra fluid off of his body. He is looking more and more like his old self again. CV surgery nurse came by yesterday to remove his dressing over his chest staples and he was taken off of all monitors this morning. The transport team came for a blood draw this morning to check electrolytes... since he's a hard stick, the lady from lab didn't want to try. And as far as the Chylothorax goes, it seems like his body is adjusting to the Portagen formula! The drainage from his Blake isn't as cloudy as yesterday. Andrew and I listened in on Cardiac Rounds this morning, and it was explained to us that as long as the drainage continues to clear up and then eventually stop all together, the Blake drain will be pulled. However, we'll continue Portagen for 3-8 weeks to give the injured portion of his lymphatic system time to heal.

After that time, we'll be given the 'go-ahead' to restart his Enfamil w/ Lipil formula knowing he'll have a chest xray after about three days to see if it's collecting in his chest cavity again. If the xray comes back clean, then we know the lymphatic system is healed... but if the xray shows fluid, then we know we have to get it out and start Portagen again. So we'll see how this all pans out. I just know that my lil' guy will get thru this!

Other than all of that, he's still a great sleeper at night and loves his silky blankie. Good thing we brought it. He's feeling really good today it seems; playing with the few toys we brought, starting to laugh again, and move his arms upwards as if to say "Pick me up!" We've been given the ok to start holding him again to get him moving so nothing settles in his lungs or chest cavity.

I'll post a few pictures later on tonite as I'm going to get him dressed for the first time since surgery. What a fun day! I hope it continues to be such a positive day for all of us!