Post-Op Day 4

Monday marked the beginning of a new week at CHLA and a day that we hoped would bring a new phase of Jake's recovery.  You can immediately tell the difference of the hospital during the week versus the weekend.   Rounds start early and fuller teams fill the hallways.  Big day for Jake as there was the hope he would have his eye sutures removed and then his breathing tube.  

The Plastics team made there way to Jake's room before 7am and immediately jumped into action taking out Jake's eye sutures.  That marked the first step of this new phase.   Jake had been breathing on his own which was another step to freedom but the removal of the sutures caused some agitation so Jake had to be put back on breathing support to help while he was given some drugs.   

Respiratory Therapy gave Jake a couple of breathing tests but needed to return in about an hour to see if Jake could pass.   Second time around Jake was all good breathing on his own making in way towards extubation.  The PICU doctors performed their rounds and they too decided Jake had met all of the criteria for extubation.

Jake had started to open his eyes to look at us and started to nod his head to answer yes/no questions.  It felt amazing to see those baby browns.  The only negative for Jake was that his pain medicine had to be dialed back to prepare him to breathe on his own once the tube was removed.   

Around 12:30, it was go time.  They pulled out Jake's tube but he instantly appeared to become agitated and thrashing about while it looked like he was struggling to breathe.   I will spare most of the details of what happened next because it was very difficult as parents to witness and experience but in the end Jake needed to be intubated once again as he simply couldn't breathe on his own.  It was very traumatic to watch while worry and then panic took over. In the end, the doctors assured us it was not what they had hoped but it is one of the outcomes that can happen.   

Poor Jake, he didn't have room to breathe in his nose post surgery and then his throat was swollen and closed up when they removed the tube.  The only positive, Jake was in the prefect place to react to the adversity and get him back on track.

It was a very tough day and Jake was tough to corral once he was intubated again.   He didn't seem to respond to the medicine and kept trying to fight to stay awake versus relaxing and resting.  After many hours, Jake is finally resting but he keeps waking himself up opening an eye and looking for us.   I think he was affected by today as well and he needs the additional comfort for him to rest peacefully.   

Today's turn of events will set the schedule back as they are now giving Jake stronger pain meds and steroids to reduce the swelling in his throat.  They want the second time to be successful with extubation so it may have to wait till Thursday.   Only time will tell and we all need to recover from an emotional and draining day.

Keep Jake in your thoughts.