Pacemaker

Saturday, April 9, 2011 5:29 PM, CDT

Back on the rollercoaster, but this time I was ready for the dip down at least.  I ran into Dr. Fish in the hallway yesterday afternoon and he pretty much prepared me to anticipate for Anastasia to go back into complete heart block (he definitely rained on my parade!).  Sure enough, she had to go back on the pacemaker this morning, which means she needs to have a permanent pacemaker put in next week.  Sucks.  Big time.  But, at least there is some comfort in knowing that we will not take her home and one day out of the blue her heart will stop beating.  But still, it sucks.  She will go back to the OR on Tuesday to have it put in.  They say it is a fairly quick and simple procedure.

Poor little Annie also had to have a feeding tube put down her nose because she is not feeding well.  She has started her coughing and gagging business when she eats which is an unwelcome development.  I swear it has something to do with the formula that we have to fortify her breastmilk with.  We switched to another one for babies with allergies, but that has not helped.  It is the strangest thing that she gets congested when she eats.  From what I have read on Dr. Google reflux can be the culprit, which she was being treated from prior to surgery, so possibly they need to return her to those meds.  Who knows!

On the positive side, they were finally able to remove Anastasia’s chest tubes today.  Those suckers were really big and apparently cause a lot of discomfort, so I am thankful that they could pull them.  They also pulled the central line out of her neck (due to high risk of infection) and placed a pic line yesterday.  She has been very alert today, which is a welcome sight!  She opens her big eyes and looks around.  No smiles yet, but hopefully those will come soon!

Needless to say I am a bit on the grouchy side today.  I am so ready for all of this to be over and done with.  I can’t even imagine how Anastasia feels!  No worries though, I have put on my big girl panties and realize that she is improving every day and we will be home soon.  Our neighbor in the ICU, Annabelle, has been here her entire life (264 days to be exact) waiting on a heart transplant.  They got the call today at 4 am that they finally have a match.  It has been a flurry of activity around here and everyone has been really excited.  Please keep Annabelle in your prayers for a successful transplant, and also the family that so graciously gave the heart of their little loved one.  I can’t imagine the grief…..