March 4, 2009

Today Taylor is five days post-surgery and she is looking and acting more like the baby we took to the hospital last Monday. Today her central line was removed and the pressure on her nasal was turned all the way down to 1. Yippee. Since she is breathing room oxygen, the doctors are planning to remove the nasal canula either tonight or in the morning.

Taylor was also evaluated by the OT, PT and speach therapist today. This is all typical for "cardiac kids". I cannot express how impressed I am with the level of care and communication that the Pediatric Cardiac team at Fairfax provides. The care is amazingly comprehensive. The physical and occupational therapists were happy with Taylor's responsiveness and motor skills for her age and condition. They will work with us until she is discharged and will follow her if she demonstrates any delays. Many kids with surgery like hers show some delays in meeting milestones due to the trauma of surgery, recovery time, bed time, etc. The early intervention here is amazing!!!

The speech therapist evaluated Taylor's sucking, swallowing and observed her bottle feeding this afternoon. She is being allowed to slowly return to the the bottle. I have never seen Taylor suck down an ounce of formula so fast!!! I think by Friday she will be off the feeding tube and totally on the bottle if she continues to respond as well as she did today.

All of these evaluations are necessary before Taylor "graduates" out of the PICU. I like how the doctors are taking it slow with weaning her off the breathing support just to be on the safe side. They are very happy with her progress and how her heart and lungs are performing. Yay!!!

Cameron and Emileigh visited Taylor today as well. After meeting with the Child Life Specialist who showed them pictures of the PICU and talked about all that they would see, they were very excited to see and touch her. Emileigh even drew several pictures for Taylor's room that are now taped to her crib. Our good friend Dave Gillum also stopped in to see us today. Thank you for taking the time to come by.

I have met several other families of kids in the PICU. Two have really stood out - one little girl (a week old) has had the same surgery as Taylor but doesn't seem to be responding as quickly. I talked to another mom today whose 15 day old son now needs a heart transplant. Please add these families to your prayers as you continue to pray for Taylor's recovery.

Thank you to the Brennan family for providing dinner for us this evening and for the wonderful get well gifts for Taylor. We are truly grateful for our friends and neighbors in the Franklin Glen community who are taking care of meals for us, letting Belle out, providing parking passes and meal cards for the hospital. Thank you all!!!

I hope to post some pictures later this week so you can see Taylor's progress.