Friday, March 16, 2007

March 16, 2007

"Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you." Exodus 23:25

Just a quick note to let you know that Kyle's surgery was completed at about 9:00 this morning and in the surgeons words, "everything went perfect." Praise God!!!

The surgeon went in Kyle's back to access his heart, the incision begins below his neck and wraps down ending under Kyle's left armpit. For the most part, they were able to use a surgical glue, along with a couple stitches, to close the wound. The surgeon was able to pull two ribs apart to get where he needed, apparently babies bones are much more flexible than adults. I was surprised by how large his incision looks. I knew the incision would be about two inches long, which I thought was pretty small. What I hadn't realized was just how big two inches looks when the person is only 12 inches to begin with! The doctors say it should heal very nicely and that the scarring should be minimal, babies skin tends to scar less than ours. If Kyle is anything like Daddy, his scar will not be visible under all the hair anyways! Ha-ha! :)

The ductus was closed with a metal clamp that will remain in Kyle permanently. As the clamp is metal, the surgeon informed us that Kyle will set off metal detectors in airports. I can't wait for the day that I can take him to an airport, or anywhere for that matter! He also mentioned that Kyle will not be able to have MRI's done, which I did not realize stands for "Magnetic Resonance Imaging". Apparently the magnetic forces of the MRI can move the metal clamp in Kyle and lead to serious trauma.

A tube was placed in Kyle's chest to help with drainage from the surgery and it will be removed in a few days. Around 11:00 AM Kyle was having an episode of desaturation (desat) which means there is too little oxygen in the bloodstream. They did a chest XRAY to confirm that everything was okay with the placement of the tube as well as to confirm the ductus was closed and both were okay. Kyle was in effect "paralyzed" for the surgery and they believe the desat was caused by this. They were able to treat it with increased oxygen and he is doing much better now.

Kyle began to wake up around noon at which time more pain medication was administered. Since Kyle obviously can't tell us when he is in pain, the nurses watch for several signs of discomfort. The most obvious, to me anyways, is that he wrinkles his forehead or grimaces as if he is in pain. They also monitor how many breaths per minutes (bpm) he is taking. The ventilator is set to give Kyle 30 bpm, however, Kyle usually takes around 50 bpm - any amount over the 30 are done on his own. As he was waking up, the bpm's he was taking on his own were decreasing. Much like you or I, if our chest was in pain it is not instinct to increase our breathing and/or to take deep breaths. The last sign they look for is an increased heart rate.

When the surgeon went over the risks of the surgery this morning, there were many, however, once Kyle made it through the surgery there are only two we really need to look out for. First, there is a risk that the ductus can re-open in the next couple of months. Second, there is a nerve, the size of a strand of hair, for Kyle's vocal cords in very close proximity to the ductus that could be damaged during surgery. We won't know for a couple weeks if this nerve was damaged or not. Chance of complications with this type of surgery occurring is only about 1%, so we are hopeful Kyle will be just fine.

God says, "My angels will always protect you" (Psalm 34:7) and you all have certainly been Kyle's angels throughout this whole experience. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Much Love,

Jennifer, Joe, Madison and Kyle

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am glad to hear the surgery went well. As always... you are in our thoughts and prayers.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Lord for guiding Kyle through his surgery. We pray that he will heal quickly and continue to grow stronger every day.

Please give Jennifer the strength to endure these days of tribulation and give her patience and understanding. They both are in our prayers.

Love,
Pattie

Unknown said...

So glad to hear everything went well, I have been thinking and praying for you all through out the day. Please no worries about wanting to be alone today, I totally understand we will catch up one of the days soon. Please just know that anytime you need anything at all we are here for you!! Take care and stay strong! Love Cristi, Cary and Owen

Anonymous said...

Hi Jennifer,
I was so glad to read about Kyle's surgery. What a strong little guy God has blessed you with! We are thinking of you and praying for you always! I am so sorry I am just now commenting but you have certainly been on my mind and in my prayers. Just know that all of your 1st graders at church miss you and are praying for Kyle and your family.
May God be your strength and refuge!
In His Love,
Pam Hunt
Hudson Community Chapel

Anonymous said...

Earl and I had special prayer for Kyle and you this morning, and we have continued to breathe prayers throughout the day, the many times God would bring you to our remembrance as we went about our responsibilities. We took the Lord up on his command to "pray without ceasing"!

"Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
I Thessalonians 5:16-18

When will Kyle be able to resume feedings? We are anxious to track his weight gain in the weeks and months ahead.

We continue to pray that Kyle will thrive under the tender care of the wonderful people in NICU, and with the beautiful love of his family. He will be so blessed to learn some day how valiantly he, and everyone else, fought for his survival, and how God embraced him when he was so helpless.
Love,
Aunt Karen

Anonymous said...

Thank you for getting the report of Kyle's surgery out to us early. Believe it or not this has been a tense day for those of us who are committed to praying for this amazing little boy. Praise God it went as well as it did and we will continue to ask the Lord to heal him and to protect him from other setbacks.
You must be exhausted and I pray you are getting opportunities for necessary rest. Laura Austin

Anonymous said...

Thanks you Lord for answered prayers from everyone that has been praying for baby Kyle.I woke up at 6:30am and started praying for him before I even hit the floor and prayed for him all day long. I am so glad everything went so well and hope he recovers really fast so he can now start growing and putting on some weight.

I needed to hear about him and couldn't wait and even wrote your Mom and sister Dawn to see if they had heard and about that time you put your wonderful letter on explaning everything so well. You really are doing such a great job writing every day and keeping us all informed on everything and I want to thank you for doing such a great job.

Now you try and get some rest so you can feel good tomorrow for baby Kyle.I love you all and God has really bless you all so much thru all of this.

Love & prayers, Aunt Sandra in TN

Anonymous said...

Hi Jennifer and Joey,

Cristi Hudkins sent me a link to your blog. I went to high school with Joey and was formally Debbie Mount, now Brown.

My family and I live only minutes from Florida Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House. I also have a 7-year-old daughter who is an Upward Cheerleader at our church downtown. We would love to have you all to diner and have Madison over anytime.

We will pray for you all.
Love in Christ,
Deb Brown
Debbie@cdbproductions.com

Anonymous said...

Glad everythihg went well with the surgery. Madison sat with Briahna & I at lunch on Friday. It was nice visiting with her.

The girls are always so interested in looking at the pictures of Baby Kyle and frequent your blog often. I review updates daily and in turn share them with Curt - he is also so amazed of the medical technology today that keeps Kyle healthy and growing and likes to see updates.

You continue to be in our thoughts & prayers.

Thanks for sharing so much detail, as it keeps us all informed and know what to pray for. Blessings are sent your way for everything that God wants for you.

The McCullough Klan

cat said...

WE are so glad to hear everything went well and Kyle is growing like a true champion.Cat

I am thinking of you all. The photos bring tears to my eyes as I think of you Jenny so far from your family. Please know that you are all in our hearts here in Australia. Love Rose

Lynn said...

Hi Jen and Family,
So happy to learn that Kyle's surgery went very well. I'm sure you are all exhausted from the busy week you had. Hopefully Kyle willnow be able to eat on a more regular basis, and will surely continue to gain weight. We are deeply in love with this precious son of yours. and are looking forward to meeting him. Keep the faith!

Much Love and Many Prayers,

Uncle Bob and Aunt Lynn