Friday, June 19, 2009

Surgery Day June 19, 2009


Last night was ROUGH. Jerry was active and temperamental and had a low grade fever on and off. He was pretty angry about the IVs and other attachments and even pulled out his IV from yanking and banging it. Handling him was exhausting and stressful. At 11 pm we woke him to feed him his last bottle before he was not allowed to have any more because of surgery. He drank some and then while laying on me started to shake...shiver uncontrollably. It was very scary. His heart rate sky rocketed and really...I thought I was losing him. He was crying as we tried to give meds and get an EKG set up. No one could figure out what was going on. Then I felt his body get hotter and hotter. He had spiked a fever which explained the shivering and the high heart rate. It was just a little strange how the fever came AFTER the shivers and high heart rate. His fever went down when treated and because of the urgency of his surgery it was to continue as planned.

Luckily, JJ slept well until right before the surgery team was ready for him. We pulled him in his favorite wagon down to the OR. He was a little fussy but surprisingly calm as the doctors took the wagon and wheeled him away. It broke our hearts and we had to keep the prize (a good heart for Jerry) in our minds.

We were kept informed about every hour about the progress of the surgery. Jerry did great!!! He got on and off the heart and lung machine with no problems and had absolutely no complications. We are feeling so relieved and thankful. We thank God for Dr. Carl Backer and his team. Jerry will be on a ventilator for several days, on a drug to keep him paralyzed, and heavily sedated. We are glad he is kept comfortable and safe.

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