DAY FOUR - CHEST CLOSURE

Sunday, January 20, 2013:

Today we headed to the hospital early to sign consents to do a chest closure. William's chest was left open after surgery because when you're on the bypass everything tends to swell and his body is too small to close the chest. The risk of infection goes up when the chest needs to stay open so they keep the opening covered with antibiotics. Dr Burch said the chest closure went great with no problems. 

Later that afternoon, William started to turn really blue and his hands and feet were ice cold. He wasn't getting good circulation to them and he didn't look good at all. The nurses couldn't figure out why because all of his levels were perfect. They did a head ultrasound and echo and everything looked fine. Dr Burch said that they would see how he did with time.

Prepping for surgery

That night I think everything became more real. I knew it would be a hard week as Tyler would have to return to school and work. I would have to balance and divide my time between London, William, and Tyler.  As we got into bed I grabbed William's blanket from his bed and held it tight. It smelt just like him and brought back memories of just days before. I missed feeding him, changing him, holding his hands, and making him smile. I even missed his cry. Tyler had helped me get through the weekend without being too emotional. Now we had to go back to real life but half of my life wasn't home with me.