TODAY' S PROCEDURES / UPCOMING SURGERY

At 6 am our day started with MANY attempts at a blood draw. Max's veins are "challenging" as the IV techs always say. He was not a happy camper....but he is such a trooper. Sucking on my pinky seemed to help at least a little. They finally decided to give him a break and come back later. That time fortunately was successful. ENT then stopped by...his nose looks ok. They can detect some scarring but they are still very open. We are keeping our fingers crossed on that issue.

There is an LP (lumbar puncture) scheduled for noon today. That is when they stick a needle in the back and drain spinal fluid to test for infection. Not a fun procedure, as you can imagine.

We decided during yesterday's care conference to move forward with the surgery for the G Tube and Nissen. That will be hopefully next week...if he recovers soon from the pneumonia and other issues. Everything is pending of course on his health. He will be in the ICU for some time after the surgery. This is a fairly complicated surgery and will be a good test on Max's strength and his lung reserves. The docs are very curious on how he does after surgery...how soon is he extabated, how soon does he bounce back, etc. That will help determine if he will need a trach, status of overall health, etc. While I am nervous about such a big surgery, it is worth it because it will help with his feeding immensely.