What a cute baby!

"What a sweet boy" and "What a cute baby". These are so nice to hear while staying at the hospital. He slowly getting back his personality. Harrison just loves frogs. His Nana gave him this one. He has a really big frog at home.
This is what he looked like when I left the hospital tonight. Boomer is sleeping with Harrison tonight and I am sleeping with William at home. Yeah, my own bed and shower.

Post Surgery

Here is Harrison sleeping comfortably after his Pacemaker was placed. Everything went by so quick I still can't believe all of this has happened. We had no idea. We were just cruising along on cruise control and bump.
I didn't get a picture of his heart rate prior to surgery, but I believe the lowest was 40. As you can see, in the photo, it has almost tripled here. This was after the Pacemaker. Now, he is running around 120 to 140.

Harrison in Heart Block?

Harrison hanging out in his room early Wednesday. He was having fun. Does he look like someone suffering from complete A/V heart block?


Here he is again. Just having a good time. He just thinks he is in a new location for a play date.

Robotic Harrison

Well, the decision was made around lunch time when Harrison went into complete electrical heart block. His rate dropped too low and wasn't going back up. He was taken to surgery around 1:45 and went back to PICU around 5:30. They rolled him down the hall so we could see him and his heart rate read 80bpm. It was so amazing seeing such a high number. I can't believe my son was showing signs of low heart rate and I had no idea. Thank god I called on Monday. What a rollercoaster ride that I really didn't plan on buying a ticket for. The good news is I found out Fort Worth has a CHD support group.

It's Not the Thyroid...

The good news is H doesn't have to take synthroid everyday for the rest of his life. The bad news a Pacemaker theory is still in the running. Pray for quick and accurate decisions.

Hospital...

Okay, so Dr. Sui's nurse called me this morning and had us come by after preschool for an out patient EKG and a 24 hour monitor. While there, his EKG didn't look great. Nurse Melinda said she would show Dr. Sui and she would call me this afternoon.

Before I got the car started the EKG Tech came out and told me to come back in and wait. Melinda came and told me she couldn't let us leave until Dr. Sui looked at the EKG.

Long story short, we are in the hospital for a 24 hour survelience. They believe H has a block causing the low heart rate. I asked the heart monitor tech on the floor for the average heart rate for a child his age. He said between 100 and 180. Well, H had a 74 while screaming during the blood draw. While playing his is a mere high 40 low 50.

The doctors will decide if he needs a pacemaker in a few days. The chances of this happening are pretty high. The only other possibility for a low heart rate could be a low thyroid function. Pray for a low thyroid function. Oh well, thank god we had the MRI.

I can't post photos since I don't have my camera. I'll keep the blog posted as updates come in. H is reading a book with Nana, so I better go check on them and his 8:00 meds.

Pray.

No Tethered Cord

The great news is the MRI results came back and there is no tethered cord with his sacral dimple. However, while we were there the pulse ox was reading a slow heart rate. Before they took him his rate fluctuated between 45 and 50. In recovery, it was between 55 and 60. Nurses kept asking if a slow heart rate is normal for Harrison. I have no idea. After surgery 2.5 years ago he struggled with proving he didn't need a pacemaker and finally won that battle and didn't need one. Now, I have no idea. The pediatrician doesn't check this at all. I am waiting for Dr. Sui's nurse to call me back. I am worried. His rate shouldn't be this low. I keep the blog posted as I hear.

Speech just left and we worked on a structured play game teaching H the signs for ball and bubbles. Overall, he tolerated this well. He is asleep now.

Pneumonia

It is not Harrison! Our 7 year old has asthma and he had a flare up last night. This Spring is killing him with his asthma. I guess the mucous was too much and he has pneumonia brewing in his lungs. The white count was over double the normal range and the x-ray shows a triangular pocket of fluid behind the heart. He is home after getting an injection of antibiotics. He will do oral antibiotics for 10 days. Pray for a quick recovery for him. Harrison is in perfect health, believe it or not!!!

So Much Going on...

I have slacked big time with this blog. We have had so much going on since my last post. I'll start with March 7.

Harrison got put on a really strong antibiotic for his chronic ear infections. Three weeks on Cipro found us having very bad diapers. He went from the constipation extreme to the opposite extreme.

We went to San Antonio for a few days during Spring Break. We had a blast. We took the kids to Sea World and The Alamo. We walked the river each day and had a river boat tour one night. I will post pictures later. We all fed dolphins, which was really cool.

We got a dog. We have had her for a week. We adopted her and changed her name to Bella. She is part Collie and part Standard Poodle. She is the best dog. She will be one in July.

Harrison is still receiving physical, speech, and developmental services in our home. His new visitor is a Behavioral Therapist. She is going to begin a very structured program for him to help improve his play behavior. In addition, she will introduce a picture system with him. Hopefully this will help him develop some speech and improve his sign language. He has yet to say many words. The program she is trying on him is used for autistic children. She has not formally tested H for autism, but she does see some behavioral tendencies that he displays.

Harrison was tested for allergies and thank goodness he is not allergic to dairy. He had some minor reactions, but nothing to be alarmed about. William goes tomorrow for his testing.

Harrison has an MRI on Thursday. They are checking his Sacral dimple. They want to make sure he doesn't have a tethered cord. I am sure everything will come back fine.

Harrison got weighed by the dietitian last week. He weighed 23 pounds and 11 ounces. Yeah!

Easter was a great day. Everyone was well. We had the family over for lunch. My niece had strep throat, so we canceled the easter egg hunt. William was disappointed, but Harrison didn't have a clue.

I think this is it. As for me, I have been stressed out over Harrison's development and eating. We decided not to worry anymore on his eating. He is gaining some weight and continuing to grow slowly, and we're fine with that. Some meals he eats and some he does not. I can't stress over that anymore. I am spending so much energy stressing over his lack of play and verbal communication that I am exhausted. I am going to pray for God to take care of this now.

There is a toddler that I follow via his blog. This little boy needs prayers. He is scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday and he has been sick the past month with the stupid cold/flu. These heart kids can't just get the 10 day common cold like everyone else. Theirs usually seem to last forever. Anyway, please pray for Elijah. He needs to get rid of this cold, so Dr. Moga can repair his heart. It is ready! We have never met Elijah. He shares the same surgeon as Harrison, and goes to the same Cardiology office that we went to. He is in good hands!

I will add some pictures soon. I think this is a somewhat slow week coming up.