Last week was a long week for the Overberg family. On Sunday night, William stopped breathing and I started CPR while Brian called 911. After 1 and 1/2 rounds of compressions, and 1 round of rescue breaths, William started breathe again. We went by ambulance to Cardinal Glennon and stayed the night for observation. It was to the point where I wasn't sure the CPR would recessitate William; I thought I would only maintain him until the paramedics got here. Thankfully, he came to and was okay by the time they came.
On Monday, William was scheduled for a CT Scan to see if his aorta was compressing his trachea - the surgeon wanted to confirm before he performed surgery. After the CT Scan results came in, the surgeon decided to move his surgery up to Tuesday (it was scheduled for Wednesday).
Tuesday was a long day waiting for surgery. William was a trooper and made it all day without eating - thankfully he slept most of the day. Brian and I took him for a walk around the floor late in the day and he made lots of friends with the nurses! At 6:00 we went to the OR waiting room and handed him to the surgical nurse. Even though we knew the surgery was needed and we knew it was a level 1 heart surgery; it's still hard to hand your child to a surgical nurse.
At 7:30 we received an update from one of the nurses that William was out and they made the incision. At 8:22, the surgeon came out and told us he was done and William did great during the surgery. He did a bronchoscopy before and after the surgery and it looked like the surgery was successful. We won't know for a few weeks after surgery - due to swelling and irritation of his trachea - if the surgery will help his blue spells. (Something we learned while in the hospital was that blue spells typically mean a spell where the child holds their breath, passes out, but comes to on their own. William has dying spells - he needs assistance to start breathing again) After the surgery, William went to PICU to recover.
Tuesday night was a quiet night for William but Wednesday was a tough day for him. He had 4 more spells and was given a light sedative that wouldn't affect his breathing and would keep him off the ventilator. This helped him to sleep throughout most of the day and recover.
William did well the rest of the week and on Friday, he was released from PICU and got his own room :) He had a restless night but was doing well so on Saturday, he got to come home!
Tomorrow it will be 2 weeks since his surgery and he has been doing so great. The aortopexy has made such a huge difference in his life - he can breathe without straining and being dusky or turning blue. He can sit up for longer than a few seconds and is so happy!!
We can't thank our families enough for all the support they gave during his surgery week. Norah and Bella had a great week and were surrounded by loved ones - which helped it be much less scary for them. We love you!
Tuesday was a long day waiting for surgery. William was a trooper and made it all day without eating - thankfully he slept most of the day. Brian and I took him for a walk around the floor late in the day and he made lots of friends with the nurses! At 6:00 we went to the OR waiting room and handed him to the surgical nurse. Even though we knew the surgery was needed and we knew it was a level 1 heart surgery; it's still hard to hand your child to a surgical nurse.
At 7:30 we received an update from one of the nurses that William was out and they made the incision. At 8:22, the surgeon came out and told us he was done and William did great during the surgery. He did a bronchoscopy before and after the surgery and it looked like the surgery was successful. We won't know for a few weeks after surgery - due to swelling and irritation of his trachea - if the surgery will help his blue spells. (Something we learned while in the hospital was that blue spells typically mean a spell where the child holds their breath, passes out, but comes to on their own. William has dying spells - he needs assistance to start breathing again) After the surgery, William went to PICU to recover.
Tuesday night was a quiet night for William but Wednesday was a tough day for him. He had 4 more spells and was given a light sedative that wouldn't affect his breathing and would keep him off the ventilator. This helped him to sleep throughout most of the day and recover.
William did well the rest of the week and on Friday, he was released from PICU and got his own room :) He had a restless night but was doing well so on Saturday, he got to come home!
Tomorrow it will be 2 weeks since his surgery and he has been doing so great. The aortopexy has made such a huge difference in his life - he can breathe without straining and being dusky or turning blue. He can sit up for longer than a few seconds and is so happy!!
We can't thank our families enough for all the support they gave during his surgery week. Norah and Bella had a great week and were surrounded by loved ones - which helped it be much less scary for them. We love you!
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