So today was not a good day for little Gaby. With such a big procedure as his Glenn operation, there are usually set-backs. Well- we learned that firsthand today.

The morning started out at around 3 am. Gabe woke up crying and in a lot of pain. At the time they hadn't quite figured out the right amount of pain medication for him. If they give him too much, it affects his breathing and too little, well...it's pretty obvious...

In a reaction to the pain, he ended up throwing up. Which, only made his pain worsen. After giving him enough pain meds, and sedating him a little, he rested. They took an xray of his chest and found that he had begun collecting fluid around his right lung. (Not in his lung, like pneumonia- but between his lung and chest cavity) They increased a diuretic to get him to increase his urine output and hopefully excrete the fluid buildup.

At around 2 this afternoon, Gabe's oxygen saturation levels dropped dramatically. For those of you that don't know, Gabe's O2 levels are normally lower than yours or mine simply because he has a heart condition. A normal and healthy individual should have O2 sat levels at 100%. Gabe normally runs at about 80-88% on a good day. They dropped suddenly to a deadly level of 29%. He was very, very blue. They bagged him with an oxygen mask and deep suctioned his chest. (He has a lot of congestion from the ventilator but no strength to cough up the phlegm). Once stablized, they put a heavy cannula called a vapotherm on his nose and now it blows warm oxygen in through his nasal passages. They suspected a calapse. They performed another set of x-rays.

The x-ray results showed a definite partial left lung calapse. The fluid buildup in his right lung had cleared up but now it was showing two air pockets.
They corrected the air pockets by increasing the chest tube suction. And now they are trying to correct the calapse. The cause of the calapse is simple and common with Glenn Procedures. Gabe's inability to cough and breath adequately has prevented him from expanding the lung to its full potential. The Vapotherm is currently helping to expand the lung. They will perform a follow up xray later tonite.

They have him resting comfortably right now. They have found a balance with his pain meds that seems to be working for him.

Obviously, our moving to the 6th floor is on hold for the moment!


Please pray for my little guy... he is amazing!