Not So Fast

Carolena was readmitted to St. Joe's hospital this afternoon. She is doing okay and hopefully she will be able to come home again soon. C has been very crabby and fussy...not wanting to eat and just screaming without being able to be consoled. So not like her at all. She generally will only fuss while she is eating but since yesterday morning she has not been herself. Kevin called around to our different doctors and we finally decided this morning that we were taking her to St. Pete. Fortunately one of the cardio docs who is familiar with her was able to see her in clinic today even though he technically was not seeing patients today. After her echo was done he let us know that the small pocket of fluid behind her heart that she left the hospital with on Monday had increased. Not good. So, since she was not eating at all and he wanted her lasix and diuretics upped he admitted her to the hospital so they could monitor her fluid intake (through iv) and watch the fluid around her heart. This effusion in not uncommon in post op heart surgeries however, everyone was really thinking this small bit of fluid would not be an issue.

The good news is that the repairs that were done to her pulmonary veins and her Glenn procedure are fine. There is no obstruction visible on the echo and her cardiologist thinks all her grumpiness and no desire to eat will go away once the fluid around her heart is gone.

We are praying VERY hard that the meds will do the job. If the meds do not work then she will have to have a drainage tube placed until the body stops producing the fluid. This step can be done with minimal invasion in the heart cath lab but we really do not want to do this if possible. Unfortunately if neither of the two steps work then she will have to have surgery again in which they open her up. We really, really do not want that.

So for now C is being observed closely. She is doing okay and Kevin is staying with her. My mom is with them right now as well. I came back to Fort Myers to be with the boys. I cried leaving Tampa. By the time I got to the Skyway I was just numb. I hated leaving her. I know she is just fine with Kevin and she probably does not miss me as much as I miss her.

Best case, C will be home this weekend. This is what I am praying for now.

Thank you all again for thinking of us and following C's progress. I know this will be a very long journey with a lot of ups and downs. I hope this down turns out to be minor.