Monday April 9, 2012

We have had an exciting last 24 hours here in the CV-ICU.  Yesterday, we found out that Nicholas was ready for his chest tube to come out.  The tube was the last thing to "pull" after the last two surgeries, so we were rather surprised that it was coming out after only 3 days.  We were glad to hear it too, because poor Nicholas has been so uncomfortable with it nestled inside his body.  So the nurse gave him a dose of morphine for pain control and a dose of Ativan for anxiety and to help him relax.  The morphine had already started to do it's thing when the Ativan was administered through his IV.  Almost immediately I could see his eyes get glassy and start to unfocus.  The tube was pulled, and we expected him to come back to normal within a few hours.  Well, he didn't.  He started hallucinating and talking gibberish and seeing things.  At first, the nurse kind of blew me off that he was acting abnormal.  But then, when he asked her if she had "sticky feet" (like a gecko) so she could walk on the wall, she started paying closer attention.  He was sitting on my lap at this point and he kept asking me if we were going to fall.  He was looking at the curtain on the wall and he told me that he was sure if we stood up, we would definately not be able to stand on that curtain, that we would fall.  He thought anyone who came into the room was walking on the wall or the ceiling and that we were suspended on a ledge and would fall if we move.  He also kept asking where we were; he thought we were in a different room, in a different bed, even though we have been in the same place since Thursday last week.  He was so upset that his heart was racing and tachycardic, setting off machines and bells.  He argued with me so much that I finally agreed with him that we were in a different room, and that we were going to be staying here for the night and we would just have to stay put.  He would ask me the same things over and over.  He kept reaching his hands and feet into the air, trying to grab I don't know what.  I had to pull my chair next to his bed and lay my head on his pillow to assure him he wouldnt fall over the edge and that I would promise to keep him safe.  If I moved the bed or shifted my body, he would startle and hold on for dear life.  And then he would ask me the same questions over and over: Where are we? Why am I in this bed?  What are these people doing to me? Are we going to fall?  Where is my bed?  Why does the room keep changing?  And on and on....This went on for nearly 12 hours.  I couldn't leave him, so naturally, my body woke up stiff and extra tired this morning. Oh, and did I mention super emotional?

This was one of the scariest things I have ever experienced through all of this heart stuff.  I don't think I can explain how scary and exhausting it was.  I was just happy that as soon as the Ativan had coursed through his body, my boy came back to me.  So now we are to list Ativan as an allergy on Nicholas' medical history so this never happens again.

Nicholas asleep in the wagon after a ride

After breakfast this morning (Monday) and another echocardiogram, chest x-ray, and EKG, we got Nicholas out of bed and took him on a wagon ride.  He really enjoyed that.  He was a little bit upset that we didnt take him upstairs to the play room, though.  Two loops around the CV-ICU and he was pretty tired.  He really thought he could walk, but instead decided to ride in the wagon.  When we got back, the medical team had looked at all of his information collected from this morning and they determined that we could pull a few more lines.  He hates this.  He is afraid to see blood and he absolutely hates it when they pull the tape off of his skin.  So after much ado, his central line and arterial line came out.  One was on his right wrist, and the other was sutured onto his neck and the line actually goes into his artery about 4 inches inside.  This was not fun for anyone, especially Nic. But now they are out and there are 2 less lines hanging from his body. 

We are supposed to transfer upstairs to Intermediate ICU sometime this afternoon.  Apparently the heart surgeons have been busy, because there is a shortage of beds upstairs.  We'll see what happens.