Easter Celebration - Part 3 - Family and Friends

We started our Easter Sunday bright and early. We drove down to Cupertino for the 9:30 a.m. Easter Sunday mass at St. Joseph. Aidan was mostly well-behaved. He was fascinated with the numbers showing the hymns, as they changed periodically, instead of the old style where they posted all the hymns out for the whole mass. He would say "The number is off", or "The number is back on". He was able to tell me what the numbers were, so that we could turn our pages together to look for the hymn. He wanted to be held whenever we stood up, probably because he couldn't see much. He was the quietest I've seen him at a Church, much better behaved than Christmas. I guess my little boy is growing up, and observing and understanding when everyone had to be quiet.

We then head over to the hospital to visit Logan. We brought a basket of goodies for the doctors and nurses, and a little bucket for Logan. I also brought Logan a pair of new Elmo socks. Aidan was kept occupied most of the time with the laptop, so that he wouldn't run in and out, and cause trouble. Logan's face didn't look too much more swollen than yesterday. However, when I changed his socks, I noticed his feet were pretty swollen. He used to have cute little feet, but now the toes were getting smaller, while his soles were getting thicker.

Uncle Kyle & Auntie Leonor came to visit and brought us a lovely fruit basket. Uncle John (Hank's brother) & Auntie Katie also came to visit our little boy. The nurse was nice enough to let Hank and I hold Logan for a good 15-30 mins EACH. When I first held him, Logan opened one eye to see what was going on. When Hank was holding him, he was more awake, and opened his eyes for a very long time (closed periodically). He was wide awake right before we left. It was a very bittersweet moment to see him awake, and he seemed to recognize/sense us. I haven't seen his eyes in a few days. And on Easter Sunday, he recognized us, knew he had visitors, and appeared to be happy that we're there. But it also saddened me that we will soon not be able to experience this anymore. Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts! I plan to keep this Easter weekend posts happy. So, let's not talk about the sad things. We were able to take a good family picture while holding Logan. We were very happy about that.

Logan and his new Elmo socks.



Logan started to open his eyes more and was more awake while Daddy was holding him.



The lovely fruit basket from Uncle Kyle and Auntie Leonor. It was a HUGE hit with Aidan. I just realized I forgot to take a picture of you guys!



Uncle John and Auntie Katie



Logan's all wrapped up after his huge explosive diaper! Must be too comfy in daddy and mommy's arms.

We would also like to thank Judy, Neil and all Tun Tavern friends for arranging us our Easter Dinner from Super Suppers. That's very thoughtful of you all, especially, when you don't even live in the area. Enjoy the pictures of the meal!

Berry Apple Crisp and Classic Green Bean Casserole & Rustic Rolls

Pork Medallions and Cherry Sauce

Calmer today

Day 15 - Hospital Stay
Day 10 - Intubated

9:00 a.m. - Arrived at the hospital and saw the nurses and student nurses finishing up giving Logan a bath. He needed that bath! His arms were so stinky from the restraints and his lips were gummy from the tape. Nurses told me he still had a few episodes of high respiration rate last night and this morning, but definitely not as bad as yesterday during the day.

9:45 a.m. - Ped came in to do an ultrasound of his heart. I could see and hear his heart beating. I recorded a little clip of his heart. The whole process took about 20 minutes. Of course, he was mad at times because of the gel and poking, but he did fine. Ped later showed and explained to me what he did. Everything looks good. His heart isn't especially bigger, blood is pumping in and out, chamber sizes are good. That's good to know that the heart is fine. Hopefully, one less thing to worry about. Still waiting for rounds.

10:30 a.m.- RT came in to fix the tubes of his ventilator. There was a lot of water accumulated from the vapor of the warm water. I am thinking that might have caused the alarm to sound off like crazy yesterday. Also had his daily chest x-ray to check the position of his tube.

11:45a.m.- Late round today. Basically, it's going to be a quiet day for him (fingers crossed). We will try to have him exercise again today for just one 3-hour period to see how he does. Then he will be put back on the ventilator at a rate of 20 for the remaining of the day. He got so tired the previous days that we're starting slow. So far, he's been doing well and the alarm hasn't sounded off since they got rid of the water. I am hoping it's really was the extra condensation that's causing the problem and he wasn't really breathing too hard. Doc also said they might give Logan a little more drug today if he appears as agitated as yesterday. His body might have gotten used to the drug. He was on it every 6 hours before, and could be given every 4 hours. However, when we wean him off later, there might be a withdrawal, e.g getting fussy and won't fall asleep easily.

11:55 a.m. - Chaplain just stopped by and brought Logan some flowers (budding flowers, I should say). He said he's the messenger as someone donated them. How sweet. He checked in periodically to see how we're doing. He said it's good to see me sitting down coz yesterday he witnessed how I was by Logan's bedside most of the time because of the alarm.

12:15 p.m. - Cpap started and he's breathing on his own now. So the flowers (daffodils) are donated by the American Cancer Association. They gave Logan a little bear as well. Let's cheer on Logan to breathe! Gave Logan a half-manicure/pedicure. His nails are getting really long and dirty. How did dirty stuff get in his nails when he's not even touching anything?!?! Well, I could only do his left hand and foot, since the ventilator is on the right side and I didn't want to mess with the tube. He usually only raises his left arm, or I should say "allowed to raise" his left arm, I guess he can't scratch with his right arm quite yet.

2:00 p.m. - Uncle Kyle and Auntie Leonor came to visit Logan, and brought a little giraffe rattler for him. They commented Logan is looking more like daddy and is gaining some cute chubby weight.

3:00 p.m. - Logan's cpap has ended and he wasn't doing too well towards the end of it. His rate was getting high, probably because he's too tired from the lung exercises. He actually had a couple apneic events and the backup ventilator kicked in to help out. The Chief came in and showed the nurses some settings regarding the ventilator. She also suggested Logan might not need to do too many lung exercises and he has kinda proven to us that he's having a hard time breathing on his own. However, we could still have him do shorter exercises instead of long 3-hour stretches, so that he's not too dependent on it. She also mentioned some triage plans in case something happened to Logan after he's discharged. We would have to explore different options in the future, but should not jump the gun until we get back the results from the blood tests. The new batch of tests were sent off today, special preparation and delivery to Philadelphia. For the time being, we will keep Logan nice and comfortable. The Chief also explained a little more about the use of chloral hydrate to get Logan to sleep. He can have a higher dose, if needed, and it shouldn't cause too much harm to him.

Will be going to the hospital this afternoon. For now, enjoy a little video clip of Logan yesterday.
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Day 12 - Hospital Stay
Day 7 - Intubated

So I got some updates from the Chief about how Logan is doing. Logan was put on Cpap earlier from around 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. They wanted to see how he breathes on his own without the support of the ventilator. He was breathing ok but the results from his blood gas showed that his oxygen level was not up to par. They did another blood gas after I arrived at around 3 p.m., to compare the results and it was still about the same. After that, he was put back on the ventilator so that he could rest a little. Logan was getting really agitated because he's not sedated, and he could feel the tube down his throat. He was moving and gagging, but couldn't get another dose of drugs until 4:30 p.m. They gave him some Tylenol, but it didn't seem to help much.

The Chief also discussed with me about options for ventilator. She proposed Logan getting a tracheostomy because it seems like Logan would be needing some help, and he can't be on the ventilator forever. I knew this discussion will come sooner or later, and I am actually prepared for this. She also suggested him getting a g-tube in this stomach to help with feeding, because he is such a slow sucker. We've been actually helping him with this by squeezing his bottle, but then he would gag. I need to think about this. It might be easier for us but if I can avoid one surgery, and just do a little more work to feed him, I'll do that. I know both tracheostomy and g-tube are pretty common and minor surgeries, but still, I need to do some research about it, and talk to my cousin to get more info. For now, they will have Logan exercise his lungs a little more the next few days, before we decide if a tracheostomy is appropriate.

The nurses are giving him morphine to sedate him a little. They need to re-tape his tube as he's been moving around quite a bit.

Uncle John and Auntie Katie visited Logan just now. Logan's first visitors and they brought him a Get Well balloon. Thanks!! If you want to visit, it's ok, but please let me know ahead of time and make sure you are not sick. As you can see from the pictures that I have posted, Logan is not in his cutest condition now. I don't want to depress you. I know you all love and care about this little guy. We really appreciate all of your generous offers in every way.