31 March 2010

It Went Well!

I'm happy to tell you that Nathan's surgery went well! Praise God! His surgery was not an open heart surgery. Like I've mentioned, this is a 3 step process. They went through the side of his chest and put in two shunts. This will route more blood to his lungs thus increasing the oxygen his body gets. Since he was not getting a lot of blood flow through his pulmonary artery, it was smaller than it normally would have been. Now with the extra flow, they expect it to grow. Even though it was small, the surgeon said it was not too small. Yay!

I am in the room with him and there is a noticeable difference in his color. Although all the blueness he had is not completely gone, he does definitely look less blue. His toes actually look pink. He is on a breathing machine for now to see how he does and if all goes well, they will take it out tomorrow morning. Consequently, they are going to keep him sedated. The little guy has moved some and even tried to grab some of his tubing! He's a little feisty even while sedated! Our nurse said that once he realizes that he has some stamina to look out, he's going to be a madman! It is quite astonishing to realize that in his whole life he has never known what it's like to have energy. Praise God that he is getting what he needs so that he can be like other 3 year-old boys. They expect recovery to be 3-5 days.

Oh, the surgical nurse gave me what they used to make the shunt and I will post a picture of it when I charge my camera. Wow, this thing looks so simple and yet it is doing wonders. Eventually, in either the second or third surgery, they will clamp off these shunts. Right now it's just to get him better oxygen levels via better blood flow to the lungs and to grow his pulmonary artery. I think it might actually help his lung to grow too. The left one is smaller than the right since it hasn't had as much blood flowing to it.

In other news, Nathan will be having another MRI next week of his head to see how the abscess is doing. We are praying and hoping that the abscess is still shrinking so that he will not have to have another surgery to drain it. It's just so much for him and if he can avoid another brain surgery, we will be more than happy. I was so happy to see him looking better and then I remember the whole abscess thing and it makes me sad. One part getting better but there are still other issues. One day at a time I guess.

Thanks for all your prayers. We will keep you updated on how he does but so far so good and we are SO THANKFUL! God is GOOD!!!

8 comments:

Kristi said...

Great news while we continue to pray for Nathan as he recovers from this first surgery.

Gwen said...

Oh, this is such great news! I'm thrilled to hear that his color is improving!
We'll keep praying for Nathan! :)

TanyaLea said...

PTL! This is wonderful news. Praying that it works exactly as it's supposed to and that his lungs and arteries grow on their own now that they have better blood flow. And we'll also be praying about that MRI coming up.

Hang in there and YES! ~ take it just one day at a time!! :)

Hugs,
Tanya

Tami said...

One day at a time indeed!

Praising God for this wonderful step forward! I can't wait to see your posts on how you can't keep up with him....something tells me he will definitely make up for lost time;-).

Hugs,
Tam

Anonymous said...

Nathan is just adorable. I'll say a special prayer for your special boy!

ChuckBone99 said...

God is awesome!!! Praise Him!! I've been praying for Nathan and you and Richard throughout the day, and I'm glad this turned out well!! I will continue to pray for a strong faith an endurance for the two of you and to pray for Nathan's recovery and an improving emotional and physical condition.

Vivian said...

Rejoicing with you tonight at the good news of Nathan's surgery! I've been praying for him all day. So happy to hear that it went well.
I will continue to keep you all in my prayers!
Blessings,
Alycia
(Adahlyn's Mama)

The Ferrill's said...

GREAT NEWS! We will continue to pray for a smooth recovery!
Kevin (from ND) will be getting a shunt too! (in the next week or two)His is for the opposite reason...he's been getting too much blood flow so his is large...and his is the first of a three step process too.
Modern medicine is amazing!
Thank you Lord for this good news about little Nathan...