Monday, July 21, 2008 in the Evening

Good evening all! I hope everyone got off to a good start to the week. since my earlier post Christie and I have met with Dr. Kelley and Dr. Ledbetter at Zander's bedside.

First, Dr. Kelley came in today on his rounds to look at Zander. He removed Zander's bandages around the chest tube and the incision site. After doing so, he removed a few of the staples from Zander's surgical incision site and replaced the staples with steri-strips. He did indicate that a small amount of infection had set in at the site (which is not uncommon) so Dr. Kelley ordered a stronger round of antibiotics for the Z man. He also examined the chest tube and indicated that everything was in order. Dr. Kelley also increased the amount of tension on the traction sutures so that additional pressure would be applied to the proximal (throat portion) esophagus. For obvious reasons, Zander strenuously objected to Dr. Kelley doing everything that he did, but the little guy soon settled down. Although it was hard to watch, I am glad I did so I now better understand how everything works.

After performing the clean up, Dr. Kelley sat down and advise me that he receives daily x-rays of Zander's chest and abdomen. He indicated that it did not appear that the esophagus (throat portion) had moved that much. He said that it was going to be a long road but that Zander was progressing better than he expected. He did not give me any time frames, but he said that Zander was doing better than most of the babies in similar situations. Christie and I are so thankful that Dr. Kelley is so easily approachable and able to answer our questions.

We also met with Dr. Ledbetter, Zander's pulmonologist. He is going to be performing a procedure on Zander tomorrow about 1:00 p.m. Since Zander has now twice rejected being taken off the ventilator (last time was Saturday), Dr. Ledbetter is going to put a camera into Zander's trachea and look at the lungs to see if there are any problems. We are praying that it is just swelling from the trauma to his little body, but Dr. Ledbetter said he will be looking at the lung structures for possible abnormalities as well as to see if there may be any signs of infection.

As a result, the little guy does need prayers and a good outcome on the test tomorrow.

The pictures above are of Zander when Dr. Kelley examined him. These clearly show the traction suture device (orange rods), his surgical incision site and the chest tube. The last picture is a picture of Zander after Dr. Kelley fixed him up and after he received his pain medicine. He is obviously happy to have received the pain meds.

I will write again tomorrow after our visits with Zander and after his procedure...if not sooner. Hugs and kisses to all and many thanks for your encouraging comments, prayers and love.

Sweet dreams Zander...you are loved by many. We pray for your comfort. God bless.

Clancy