Saturday, January 23, 2010

Pacemaker Recovery

Last night, Eli was in the same medical state as the night of his surgery. He was still on sedatives, heavy diuretics, had significant edema (fluid swelling) and his canula was still feeding a full 6L/hr of air. As we left for the night, we began emotionally bracing for a very long stay, realizing an additional week or two might be realistic.

This morning, we decided to head home for the morning to spend time with Paige. It was a great morning of hugs, kisses and laughter. We've missed her so badly, and it was obvious she was missing us, too. She's been having lots of fun with grandmas, but it's been 5 days since we've seen her in person. We ate lunch together, read books together, and had lots of real-life contact with our favorite little girl. As we tucked her in for her nap, we explained we were heading back to the hospital and maybe we could talk to her "on the computer" (webcam/Skype). She started to cry a little, but we made it through. As I write this, we're waiting for her to wake up from her nap so we can show her Eli. Yesterday when we talked to her on the phone, her first question was "How is Eli doing?" She's an awesome big sister.

Now, we're sitting in Eli's room again. We're so excited to let you all know, he made huge strides today while we were gone! He's only had one sedative dose today, and they're trying to hold those back as much as possible. He's on all the same medications as home, now. He's on standard feeds, just like at home, and his air is all the way down to 2L/hour! High flow only goes down to 1L/hour, so he'll be back to "normal" shortly, if he stays on this schedule!

He was awake and alert when we got here. He grabbed at our faces and very obviously interested in us more than anything else. He's still a little groggy, but you could see hints of a smile when we played with him.

Here he is, within the last hour.


5 comments:

Amy said...

So, so thankful! Thank you Jesus! Praying that you all will be home soon and together again!

Bonnie said...

Thankful for this wonderful update and praying that the Wedehase Four will soon be back together in Kingsburg!

Anonymous said...

Yay God! Yay Eli! So happy for you guys! I am glad you guys got to spend some time with Paige, and Eli made such great progress! I can't imagine what a relief that must be. Love, The Favelos

ddheath said...

It will be great when the family is back together. I know Paige must be missing everyone right now and I bet Eli is missing his big sister too. Praying for a speedy recovery so you all can get back home together.

Debbie Shockly said...

I`am so thankful for everyday that Baby Eli is here. His courage to be has given me a new look into the heart of Jesus. I stand in awe of the love that has been poured out in prayers and faith to believe that all things are possible. Yes there is a season for everything and having Baby Eli in my life has brought a new depth of ,yes HE LIVES,I KNOW MY SAVIOR LIVES.