Post Op days 6 & 7

On Monday, post op day 6, we had another day of checking tasks off the list to get another day closer to getting discharged. The day consisted of taking walks around the unit, eating and keeping it down, drinking tons of fluids, checking Nicholas's heart function with an echo, and determining the next step based on how he did on all the tasks. Needless to say, Nicholas was able to not only walk around the unit, but he went downstairs (well, down the elevator 8 stories) and ate a piece of pizza from the cafeteria! He could check off a few boxes of things after that! 

He finally stopped vomiting on Day 6. I am absolutely certain that it was because he had his chest tubes out the day before and they stopped giving him hardcore pain medication. Nicholas has always been super sensitive with meds and I was so glad to see him out of pain and the cycle of sickness he felt to "keep him comfortable". He even stopped taking Tylenol on Day 6! No pain medication six days after open heart surgery....unbelievable to me! He is so strong!

Dr. Marx increased the Lasix (a diuretic) because he doesn't want Nicholas's heart to have to pump any extra fluid around his body. So that was one change. The goal is to keep everything in a perfect range with medication and that the Left Ventricle will "remodel" as it gets more comfortable with it's new job as a systemic ventricle. 

We waited much of Day 6 for an echo to physically see how the LV is performing. They said that it looks even better than it did in the CICU. I have not seen any reports to see the statistics, but Dr. Marx thinks Nicholas's heart is looking better each day. We may or may not have an echo next week at the follow-up appointment, depending on all the other tests we will do then. 

Yesterday, on Post Op Day 7, we were told first thing in the morning that we would be discharged by lunchtime! We packed up all our belongings, discarded the linens I had been using while I slept next to Nicholas's bedside, and got more "presentable" to go out in the real world. 

I should have known that Murphy's Law is always applicable at any given time in life. Our nurse came in at around 11:30 and started removing all the remaining band-aids, tape, and adhesive coverings from Nicholas's skin. She took off a gauze from his groin, which was covered with a clear, plastic cover. As soon as it came off, I noticed a very large bruise in his groin which reached almost up to his belly button. I never saw it at any point while helping him use the bathroom. He had complained several times over the past few days that when he coughed he felt pressure down by his groin. So we really don't know how long the bruise was there, whether it was "new" or if it had been there for a while. Our Nurse Practitioner had to go investigate what type of "line" had been in that vessel, to determine if it was safe for us to leave. 

Meanwhile, the physical therapist came in and did a few tests with Nicholas and she said his strength was much better than the day she came into the CICU. She said the only other thing she wanted to have him do was walk up and down stairs since his bedroom is upstairs at home. He went up a flight of stairs and back down with flying colors!

Dr. Marx stopped by to see us while we were finishing up with PT, and he reiterated that Nicholas's LV is performing so well. He gave me a big hug and I expressed my appreciation to him for reviewing Nicholas's case all these years without any compensation and with nothing to gain from giving us his expert opinion. He is truly an angel to me. I don't think I can ever thank him enough. He said the greatest thanks would be to receive a high school graduation announcement and to be included in all of Nicholas's life's accomplishments. I think that is very doable! 

Back to the bruise. By 1:30 we hadn't heard anything so we ordered lunch for Nicholas because he was getting hungry and it didn't seem like we would be leaving any time soon. They came in around 3:00 and said they wanted Nicholas to have an ultrasound downstairs to make sure there wasn't any damage where the A-line had been in his groin during surgery. (An A-line is a wire-like thing that is inserted into an artery and attaches to the heart muscle to measure pressure. It is much more accurate than measuring blood pressure with a cuff on the arm.) We didn't head down for the ultrasound until 4:30. It was 5:30 before we got back upstairs, and we then had to wait for the radiologist to read the images to give us the green light to leave. After more time hurrying up and waiting, it was determined that the artery was healthy and the bruise was not due to a damaged artery. We have to watch it and make sure it doesn't get darker, and it should start to fade with each passing day. We have to stay in Boston for at least a week so they said to let them know if we have any concerns with it. 

We finally headed down the elevator to the ground level at about 7:30 pm. I feel such disbelief that we were walking out of the hospital a week to the day after major, complex open heart surgery. It is still a miracle to me!







We grabbed a pizza from the cafeteria since it was already late and we knew Nicholas would enjoy it. We called a Lyft and got a ride back to the apartment, walking through the door of our Home Away From Home at 8:02 pm. 

Nicholas had a few packages to open from friends and family, and after eating three, yes THREE huge pieces of cheese pizza, went to bed well on the road to a full recovery!