Butera's Place

[singlepic id=67 w=320 h=240 float=right] Sam had a great day yesterday.  Despite being diagnosed with RSV, he keeps plugging along.  His morning x-ray looked much better than the one from the previous morning.  Also, he came off the oxygen they had him on and removed the arterial line that was in his thigh, leaving him […]

[singlepic id=65 w=320 h=240 float=right] First let me apologize for not adding an update for a couple days, but things were pretty much status quo until this morning.  Sam is still doing great concerning all things heart related.  His “new” heart is going strong, his heart rate is good, and his oxygen level is good […]

Sam’s first full day in step-down had its ups and downs.  The good news is that he’s gone from the NJ tube back to the NG tube and is doing well with it.  The problem is that he still has a little reflux, and that’s giving him problems with his breathing. [singlepic id=64 w=320 h=240 […]

Sam continues to do really well; so well, that he was moved out of CICU to the cardiac step-down unit today!  We are so happy about this.  He now has his own room that is quieter, and Laura is now allowed to stay over night with him. He has been doing better with his feeds, […]

Overall, Sam is still doing really well, and he continues to make progress.  When we called for an update this morning before Laura left to visit him, they had already removed his catheter and one of his heart lines, and they were planning on removing the bulk of his chest tubes and lines.  By noon, […]

OK, maybe I’m biased, but I can’t believe how well Sam is doing.  I didn’t even think that I’d be writing an update today, because it was supposed to be a low-key day of resting for Sam.  But he’s doing so well, that there’s lots of news to share. [singlepic id=63 w=320 h=240 float=right] They […]

Today they closed the incision on Sam’s chest!  There was a chance that it was going to be done yesterday, but Dr. Kirshbom decided to wait until today to give Sam’s body a chance to expel more of the excess fluids and to give him another day to rest.  In addition to closing his chest, they […]

We were able to see Sam last night after he got settled in the CICU.  Although he was wired for everything and tubes were going in and coming out, he really looked great!  There were a couple things about his appearance that made us a little uneasy: First he was really puffy, making him look […]

4:45 am:  We got up at 3 am to get ready to bring Sam to the hospital.  Since the boys decided to get up an party at 11 o’clock for an hour and a half, we did not get as much sleep as we would like.  Now we are on our way to the hospital. […]

Love this quote, it is currently hanging our fridge for me to absorb all day long.  Good stuff! “The moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours.  No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies […]