It's A Wonderful Life

This is how all of Gideon's pants fit him. We had to put Bria's old size 2 leggings on him today in hopes they would stay up. Even then they were about an inch too big. Gideon also loves to throw things over the stair rail. If we are missing something the first place we look is in the landing. What a precious little one. Notice the pink in his face. What a blessed site. Gideon LOVES fries. If I had a hard time getting him to eat at the hospital all I had to do was order fries. What do teenage boys do on a Sunday afternoon? Sleep. Even if you are visiting your brother in the hospital. I'll give Pierce the out. He took over at home during the days while we were gone. He did a fantastic job. Today he said he made a terrible homemaker because he couldn't seem to keep the house clean. I know exactly what he meant and Gideon was not even there. I am just glad the he is doing online school this year. Tyler and Jessica came to visit on Sunday...

Amazingly, Gideon was released from the hospital this afternoon. There was a possibility of being released Sunday but the Cardiologist on the floor wanted to get another Echo done to be sure the surgery was holding up well. While we waited for the Echo Gideon went into VTach twice. I'm not sure what it stands for but it is when the heart starts to beat very fast. This was not a good thing and worried me considerably. Another Cardiologist that specializes in the electrical system looked things over. The information that she came back with was yet, one more surprise. Gideon has two right Atria, the top of the heart. Not a right and left but two right, one on the right and one on the left. Why I didn't suspect this after finding out he has two right lungs I don't know. We also found out that Gideon's spleens, yes multiple, are working. Yeahhh! No antibiotics for life. This Heterotaxy is a very weird disorder. As I talked with the care professionals at the hospital I rea...

Gideon is out of ICU 48 hours after surgery.  Another amazingly quick step in his progress. The ICU nurse didn't want to let him go because she loved him so much.     Yeah - I'd cry to if I had to just lay there with stuff all connected to me for 4 days.  He had much more of the smiles on the right than the other on the left... Tubes and wires, but they all came out yesterday!!! His last meal in ICU.   Just before the final disconnections.  There was about 1 1/2 feet of that larger drain tube inside him.  That was not fun for him while it was being pulled out.  Showing off his strength so he can get out of ICU.  This was Saturday about 11:00 AM.

Miracles happen!! Today Gideon has made such great progress that the doctors and nurses are excited and astonished. Gideon has had many of his tubes and wires taken out today. He is now on 2 medicines, Tylenol and a narcotic for pain. That is it! He will be getting his drain tubes out in the morning as well as a couple of wires connected to his heart. These wires are connected to the heart and come out the lower chest to be connected to a portable pace maker if Gideon's heart went into arrhythmia. By late morning Gideon was asking for water again. The doctor had said that as soon as he woke up a little he could have any amount of liquid he could tolerate. Gideon proceeded to drink over 16 ounces in an hour. He was then supposed to eat some fat to make sure his heart didn't act up afterword. We ordered up 2 orders of fries and as soon as the fries were even near Gideon he started shoving them down. He ate every fry! No one could believe it. While Gideon was eating his fries...

As Deanne mentioned in the update from the waiting room, Gideon did great during surgery.  His heart was taken out, some plumbing was re-routed and it was put back in.  All in about 3 hours.  What an amazing miracle.  And to facilitate that miracle, as a partner with God, is a deeply religious, sober man who has an incredible understanding of his responsibility to save and extend life.  I want to share some thoughts about the surgeon, Dr. Kaza.   He has a rich brown complexion giving away his ancestral connection to India.  Large, dark brown eyes that are bright with knowledge and wisdom, but seek for further enlightenment at the same time.  His physical stature is far from intimidating.  His hands are small, narrow and soft - the perfect tools for the delicate operations he performs on the smallest of God's children.  One of the signs of one who possesses great understanding, is the ability to explain compl...

We are in the surgery waiting room and just got an update. Gideon is doing well. They are done with surgery and bypass is off!  He is still alive and will hopefully live to see many more days. :) They are in the process of sewing him up then will come and talk with us. We do know that he did not require his valve to be fixed so things were the least invasive of our options. We are so grateful for the outcome so far. We have felt a sense of peace today and God has given us some support and distractions. Doug's sister came to see us and brought some food, music and a book. She was very inspired as to what to bring. While she was here I saw some friends come into the waiting room while waiting for their son to get hernia surgery. We were able to talk with them for a while and only a few minutes after Doug's sister left another friend sought us out to talk. This friend has also adopted many special needs kids and surprisingly he was in the Cardiac waiting room last night becau...

OK, so most reading this will not see it until it is tomorrow but that title is the best I could do. Yesterday and today have been full of ups and downs. I will cut and paste a copy of an email Doug sent out to family yesterday then go from there. I have not been able to blog everyday because Doug and I trade off who stays overnight at the hospital with Gideon and Doug doesn't think about blogging. Sorry. "Gideon made it through the catheter procedure with a little excitement.  He didn't go into cardiac arrest, but his heart went into arrhythmia 4 times to the point they had to shock him out of it.  A normal heart can take the stimulation of a catheter just fine, but damaged hearts don't always.  The reaction he had shows how close he has been to heart failure.  They said he is quite a fighter.  They had more details about the construction of his heart and it seems the more they find out about the defects, the more they...