Gabe is still in ICU. He has a feeding tube giving nutrition. He has a PICC line which is an IV catheter inserted near his heart to give him medicine. They have him on Captopril and Lasix. The valves in his heart are still leaking significantly. The more concerning issue continues to be his ventricles. The bottom half of his heart is not beating strong enough and this is something surgery would not correct. They won't even do the AV canal repair until his ventricles are working better. The medication they tried giving him was not really improving this function. The big question is why. All the doctors talked about him yesterday at a care conferenece and they all agreed that poor ventricular function to this extent is rare with AV canals and Down Syndrome. They think something else might be going on with the heart...something seperate causing poor ventricular function. They are going to draw a bunch of labs on Monday to look at all sorts of weird stuff to see if there is another diagnosis going on with the heart muscle itself. They may eventually do a cardiac cath or biopsy, but that's still a maybe. They will check another ECHO (ultrasound of the heart) next week to see if there are any improvements. Gabe looks pretty good and is still a cutie. He looks so good for having such a weak little heart. Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers. I apologize for not answering my phone very often or returning calls. It's exhausting explaining everything and it's busy around here with lots of docs in and out. Justin and I are hangning in there. We've been sleeping at home since Gabe is stable and we're trying to take brakes from the hospital when Gabe is asleep and the doctors aren't coming in to talk to us in order to stay sane. We'll keep you posted on how everything goes.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Here I am crying out for mercy and calling out for Your help, so if You hear me I need a hero
Gabe is still in ICU. He has a feeding tube giving nutrition. He has a PICC line which is an IV catheter inserted near his heart to give him medicine. They have him on Captopril and Lasix. The valves in his heart are still leaking significantly. The more concerning issue continues to be his ventricles. The bottom half of his heart is not beating strong enough and this is something surgery would not correct. They won't even do the AV canal repair until his ventricles are working better. The medication they tried giving him was not really improving this function. The big question is why. All the doctors talked about him yesterday at a care conferenece and they all agreed that poor ventricular function to this extent is rare with AV canals and Down Syndrome. They think something else might be going on with the heart...something seperate causing poor ventricular function. They are going to draw a bunch of labs on Monday to look at all sorts of weird stuff to see if there is another diagnosis going on with the heart muscle itself. They may eventually do a cardiac cath or biopsy, but that's still a maybe. They will check another ECHO (ultrasound of the heart) next week to see if there are any improvements. Gabe looks pretty good and is still a cutie. He looks so good for having such a weak little heart. Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers. I apologize for not answering my phone very often or returning calls. It's exhausting explaining everything and it's busy around here with lots of docs in and out. Justin and I are hangning in there. We've been sleeping at home since Gabe is stable and we're trying to take brakes from the hospital when Gabe is asleep and the doctors aren't coming in to talk to us in order to stay sane. We'll keep you posted on how everything goes.
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Praying for Gabe!!
ReplyDeleteWe are praying for Gabe!
ReplyDeleteOh I am praying for you and little Gabe. Remember things can always change quickly and can get better fast. Keep hoping! My little one had a tough journey with his AVSD repair and numerous complications. Take care of yourself and get lots of sleep and rest.
ReplyDeleteI've been keeping you guys in my thoughts and prayers. Let me know if I can do anything for you.
ReplyDelete- Anne
saying lot of prayers for your sweet gabe.
ReplyDeleteStill thinking about you and your family. I'm sorry this has been a tough road - hang tight!
ReplyDeleteThinking of you all and continually praying for you. I know God has a plan for Gabe... a plan for you all... in this, though just what it may be is often unclear to us at first. I am confident He wants you to have hope in that promise - hope that there is a significant purpose to all this. I know hope is hard when so much is unclear, but it is a precious promise to cling to. Take care of yourselves and each other. Much love and many blessings. (Jeremiah 29:11)
ReplyDeleteWe are keeping you in our hearts and prayers.
ReplyDeleteContinuing to pray for Gabe, and for both of you as you wait for answers about his ventricles, which I pray you get soon.
ReplyDelete