Sunday, June 10, 2007

Our first CHOP experience

Wednesday we decided to take Dillon to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's (CHOP) ER for his breathing problems due to tonsils. I thought the doctors would question why we decided to bring him in now, but the doctors in the ER just saw how he was breathing and immediately jumped into action. Within 2 minutes of walking in we were in the back with 10 people working on him. They were suctioning him, putting IVs in, drawling blood, putting oxygen on him and talking about intubating him. I started crying because Dillon was actually trying to fight them and was not happy about anything that was going on. They shortly sent us up to PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). They had Dillon on Cpap which is what people who have sleep apnea use, it is forced air through his nose. He rested comfortably that night. The next day (Thursday) the ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) doctors looked at him and so did the lung doctor (I can't spell the technical name for that). The lung doctor did not think he has asthma, but the ENT did think his tonsils were too large. That night the did a sleep study which showed how many times he stopped breathing in his sleep. His average was 8 times per minute (my mom stops about 30-40 so 8 isn't terrible but it is bad). On Friday they removed his tonsils, adenoids, and put tubes in his ears. He was kept on the breathing tube until Saturday afternoon because of the swollen throat and all his other medical problems they felt better keeping it in. He is now on Cpap again, but this time it is in a tube that goes down his nose. This tube was there from surgery anyways so they are using it. To top it all off he has Rhino virus which makes him have extra secretions - tons of extra secretions! He is doing well though. Hopefully tomorrow (Monday) they will try taking the tube out of his nose. He may need to come home with a Cpap machine, however. This would be if his muscle tone is too weak to keep his airway open. We are praying the tonsils were the problem instead of the muscle tone. The doctors here at CHOP are wonderful, so are the nurses. They are making sure they don't send him home until he is breathing the best he can possibly breath. They are worried about his weight, but said that the breathing problems could be effecting his weight gain. They also said this could be why he is still sleeping as much as a newborn, and could even effect him developmentally. They see children with sleep apnea and no other problems that are behind developmentally. Wouldn't it be great if God allows us to see improvements in these areas from this one surgery?!
Right now Dillon is sitting on Daddy's lap in a rocking chair and Daddy has been singing to him. It is so sweet and Dillon calmed down and is resting with his Daddy!
Thank you for praying! I have Internet in the room now, so I can update you more often. Oh, the doctors said to plan to be here a week after the surgery- so until Thursday (give or take a little).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Continuing to pray for Dillon!! Thankful for such a great hospital!! Thank you for the updates on here! I check them often.