Wednesday, March 3, 2010

If it's not one thing, it's another

Today was definitely a good news / bad news kind of day.

The good news is that Bodie's sats definitely look like they're trending better - he has been in the high 70's to low 80's for several hours now!!! Praise God! So, we're hopeful that his low sats were indeed caused by the pleural effusion and that the fluid is finally coming off of him and that's being reflected in his better sats. With heart kids, there are lots of ups and downs, so it's possible his sats will trend back downward. Please pray that's not the case and that his x-ray tomorrow morning will show a significant reduction in the effusion! That should put us closer to extubation.

The not so good news is that just as we were starting to breathe a sigh of relief that his sats were finally showing an improvement (and my mom and I were about to leave for the day), he started having episodes of SVT, or Supraventricular Tachycardia. Basically SVT means that the heart starts beating really fast (for instance, Bodie will shoot up from 120bpm to 180 or 190). It's really freaky to see as a parent because the nurse will yell for a cardiologist and all of the sudden 3 or 4 people will be around the bed, trying to snap him out of it. We were lucky that Bodie snapped out himself during the first episode (it was less than 10 seconds), but he needed help the other times. The other good news is that they were able to stop the other episodes by putting ice on his head (so he didn't need meds or a pacer to snap out of it). But it's so sad because he starts (silently) screaming like crazy when they do it (I mean, who wouldn't? I would be livid if, without warning, someone put a ziploc bag full of ice on my head - and I have hair to cushion the cold a bit!)...anyway, he's been coming in and out of his normal rythym and SVT all evening. The bummer thing is that they're not sure why. They have a few theories, but just don't know which one it will be yet. When I last talked to the nurse, they were experimenting with his meds to see if it was a drug causing it and were about to do an EKG. So, tonight, please send up some extra prayers that they figure out what's causing his SVT's so that they can get them under control.

Thanks and I will update once we know more!

5 comments:

  1. Oh Amy! What do I say? You poor thing, ups and downs must be frustrating! I'll be praying myself to sleep for his little body and your nerves as parents. I want to hug you and him so bad. You're so amazing through all this, great example to me. Erin

    ReplyDelete
  2. Prayers for that precious little boy!! What a roller coaster of emotions you guys are on.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Praying hard for your boy. That sure is scary! (((HUGS)))
    ♥sharon

    ReplyDelete
  4. Of course, the prayers are continuing.

    What a rollercoaster ride! I am glad you are able to be in contact with the staff and that Bodie is getting a lot of attention there. I know this is probably not the case with Bodie, but LJ's rate would go into the 190's and low 200's when he was in pain. I was so angry because the nurse didnt' believe me. The new nure came in and gave LJ some pain meds and his rate went back down. Though, this doesn't sound like the case with Bodie. I hope that it is merely an issue with a medication and that everything will be figured out.

    I am glad his pulse ox is staying high and I hope that the tube comes out soon!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Dusk and Amy,
    It is difficult to read this fine print through my emotional eyes!!
    Your faith and strength are an amazing witness. Thank you for sharing your phenomenal love for Bodie. Thank you for creating this rich and informative website so that we may all know, love and care for Bodie as well. He is very blessed to have such loving, wonderful and enduring parents and a God that helps us all hold it together.
    Our love and prayers go out to all (4) Bennetts.
    Daryl, Tanya, Grace and Elia

    ReplyDelete