Pretty Happy Boy

I am such a big boy!













Hard to believe there is a
car under that, isn't it!








Hi, did somebody order a Christmas Ham?










Peek-A-Boo

Well as you can see, I had a pretty good day. Unfortunately, Mommy had to go home today, to go back to work. It took her all afternoon to get there, cause of the weather. But she will be back on Saturday, weather permitting. Speaking of the weather, while we have been here, Portland has had more snow in the last week or so than it has seen at any other time in the last 40 years. Crazy! So, moving on, Mommy and big brother will get to see each other on Christmas Eve after Mommy gets off work and Daddy and I get to hang out in the dumb old hospital. But at least Santa is supposed to make a pit stop here Christmas Day, so big brother and I will get some good stuff. Hopefully, this weekend, I will get to see big brother, Grandma Penny, Grandpa Ron, Uncle Garrett, Grandma Sam and of course, Mommy! :) Well as far as my health goes, it's running it's course. I am on a slew of meds, including IV fluids. They have me on that, so the problem I keep having will heal and hopefully stop being a problem. I don't have any idea when I will be going home yet, but maybe by next year. :) Well, I am pretty worn out from being so darn cute. I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and that I miss them and love them. Love Ayden.

P.S. Check out my links for the Elf Dance. It may take a minute to load, so be patient. It is worth it to see my family "dorking out".

Back on 9, Unknown Direction

Well, we got moved back up to the 9th floor this morning. Last night was rough for a while at one point. My chest tube clogged up and wouldn't drain. Mommy fiddled with it and got it to start draining. Then we had the nurse come in because it stopped again. She changed the connector on the tube because it had a clot in it and lo and behold, immediately 35 mls drained out in like 10 or 15 minutes time. After this, I started to do alot better. I am still having good wet diapers when they give me the diuretics. I have also been doing quite a bit better as far as being awake and happy. Today, Santa Claus was at the hospital and I got to see him. I also picked out a present for big brother. I know he will like it. Well, we are just going to play it by ear for the next few days and hopefully we will get to go home soon. Wish me luck. Love Ayden.

This sucks!

So, On Tuesday I was moved upstairs to the 9th floor. I was doing ok, but my urine output has slowed up considerably, which is not good. I was switched to all oral medications except the Ativan. Apparently, messing with changing them and also changing from one drug to another did a number on my system, because Thursday morning, I was having problems with getting rid of the fluid and also I had lots of phlegm that I would swallow and then cough it back up, which was not good. This made me really upset and cranky. So Friday night, I started breathing heavier and at 1:30, they did a X-ray. They also gave me a IV dose of Lasiks and that helped me pee, and get some of the fluid off. I was still having problems with breathing and my x-ray showed a build up of fluid on the right side. Guess what happened next, yup a trip to the ICU and a new chest tube. Well it is now Monday and things have gotten even worse. I lost my Picc line which is the only IV that I had and it took them a very long time to even get that. They are trying to get a new line in lets hope it works. I have had a fever off and on for the last day or so and now they started me on antibiotics, to catch it before it gets bad hopefully. And to add insult to injury, big brother is sick with strep throat. This week has been great so far and it is only a day and a half into it. Well I gotta go. Love Ayden

Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas Ayden Clause

So I've had a great last couple of days. On Saturday, I got to see my Grandma Penny, Grandpa Gary and Carolyn. I was in a great mood all day, smiling and playing and laughing. I was still on the SiPap machine, but the docs wanted to start weaning me off of it, so they started doing that periodically. They would put me on the high flow nasal canula for a hour or two, then put me back on the SiPap. Every time they did that, I got really angry. But, by Sunday, I was off of it completely and I have been doing great. My chest tube is not putting out barely any fluid and my last X-ray looked great. They have got me on IV feeds only and some oral meds, but that is all that goes into my tummy besides water. Sunday, I got to see Grandma Sam and she brought me a little Santa oufit. I only got to wear the hat, but even then, I looked pretty darn cute. Well, the docs were talking about possibly moving me upstairs on Monday. Hopefully that will happen, because that means that I am closer to going home. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Love, Ayden.

A little bit better, but not out of the woods yet!

So, I haven't written in a while and thats because the nurses and docs have been keeping me hopping. They've given me several types of diuretics, including diarill which works wonders on me. Since I have been getting that, I have been getting rid of fluid like it was nobody's business (except mine). After having a X-ray and a ultrasound done yesterday, Doctor Langley decided to put a chest tube in my left side because of a large effusion I had. They did it this morning and so far, I have had about 90 mls come out of it. Also I finally got to see big brother today for the first time since Friday of last week. Man I missed him. He was being his usual goofy self. I have been getting Ativan when I get cranky and that does wonders for my attitude. I was playing and kicking and smiling at Momma and Papa and Aunt Tricia tonight after getting that. I am looking forward to getting to see my grandmas this weekend. Overall I am better but not even close to going home. Well gotta go, Love Ayden

Doing ok, but more stuff to be done

Well, Monday night, Mom and the nurse gave me a bath, which made me feel better afterwards. I was the most active I had been since I was at home on Thursday. I was smiling and laughing at my goofball dad and kicking my feet and playing with my toys. They put me on a high flow nasal canula, which provides humidity to my nasal passages as well as O2. I was able to breathe easier after this and not have to work as hard, so I was less tired. This morning, they had to get blood, so I think between that and trying to get a IV started because the other one I had blew, I got poked at least 5 or 6 times. Then they tried to get a line in through my groin, which was a sterile procedure, but all that ended up being was a arterial line through my femoral artery. So it is good for blood draws, but no meds or other fluids through it. I was still in a good mood this morning because I got some much needed sleep last night. I also had another Cardiac Catheter done this afternoon. They were going in because I still have some narrowing in my Aortic arch and also what they call collateral blood vessels in my lungs. To fix these, they put tiny coils on them. I went in for this at 2:30 and did not get back from this until 11:00 last night. The first few hours was them getting a PICC IV started and giving me the drugs to put me under, so they could this. When I got back, the nurses gave me Morphine for the pain. Well I really need some sleep, so I will talk to later. Love Ayden.