Eddie 3, Invasive Foreign Objects 0

I forgot to mention that Eddie pulled his chest tube out last night. For those keeping track, that makes one breathing tube and two mediastinal drainage tubes.

The good news is that we were seeing only 10-20 ml of serous fluid each day and were pretty close to removing already. The incision site is hidden under his Berlin dressings so we can't access it until his next change (tomorrow). So we're hoping the biggest problem will be a round scar rather than a nicely sutured incision.

As a precaution, we ECHO'd him today and there didn't appear to be any significant pericardial fluid buildup as of yet. We'll keep an eye open, but as usual, Eddie knew what was best for him and took matters into his own hands.

Eddie's friendly Hermit Crab

On a walk to see the Hermit Crab

Through the fish tank

Fun with trains, markers, and Aunt Courtney

Here We Go Again . . .

Eddie's chest tube stopped draining this morning and his morning ECHO showed another pocket of fluid building up in the pericardium. Most likely a clot has developed inside his chest blocking the drain, and he'll be going back into the operating room in about an hour. This is essentially the same operation he underwent last Tuesday and Thursday . . . but at least he doesn't have any clots in his heart this time . . the potential clot blocking his chest tube is in the pericardial sac rather than the heart itself.

Update to follow after Eddie is safely back in our arms.

Day 30

Good morning, everyone. I know many of you have been waiting patiently for an update, so here's what we know:

Yesterday's ECHO didn't show much of a change in Eddie's clots . . . still roughly the same size and in roughly the same place. This is good since we know they are still in his heart and haven't migrated somewhere more dangerous. Also, since clots tend to establish themselves more firmly over time, there is the possibility they will become more embedded and less mobile which, in the near term, may be a good thing since they don't seem to be obstructing blood flow through his heart. We will continue to monitor his clots through daily ECHOs.

We scheduled a care conference yesterday afternoon with Eddie's doctors to understand where things stood and get a comprehensive picture of his care options going forward. The net result was that we felt it best to take a watch-and-wait approach rather than take any interventional steps (surgery, specialized anti-clotting drugs). With constant monitoring and a bit of finger crossing, we would hope for the best.

Not long after the care conference, however, the team approached us and said they needed to take Eddie back to the operating room since the bleeding from his chest tube was increasing and was increasingly bloody. After much discussion with colleagues around the world, the doctors and surgeons felt it was getting to the point that we had to take the risks of surgery to identify the source of bleeding and try to stop it. This was around 6:00p last night.

About three hours later, we received word that Eddie was stable and recovering nicely. They had found one artery that was bleeding a bit, but mostly there was diffused and general bleeding and it was difficult to pinpoint the source. They closed him back up with the hope that the bleeding would slow down, but there was no smoking gun.

As of this morning, he is still intubated (on the ventilator with breathing tube) and he is still bleeding. He is awake and responding to us and we are so grateful to have him with us. We will have a more detailed discussion with the doctors in the next hour and will share news as we have it.

As you can tell, Eddie is very critical. We love him, and are so proud of his strength . . . he inspires us every day with his tenacity. Thank you for your prayers . . . we feel them every day.