Day 7: Heart Center update

(Mike here) Whitney is doing very well and is really on to her pacifier. It is amazing to see her energy right now. She REALLY wants that pacifier. If it falls out, she gets annoyed and grunts, waves her arms and legs and gets mad. Before the surgery, because of the holes in her heart, she had very low levels of oxygen in her system, her energy was zapped (basically her heart worked overtime just to pump, she would sweat and get really heated, etc. and sleep all the time). Now, Whitney seems totally normal, but just full of energy. I think we are in for it when we get her home. I HOPE she can sleep when we try to get her to bed in the coming weeks.

We HOPE to get Whitney home on Tuesday or Wednesday. We are very hopeful that this is the case. Then we can all return to our normal lives, Whitney included. Anne has now ridden the 'people mover' / monorail / train at the hospital three days in a row. http://www.sibelle.info/peoplemover/clarpeop.htm She LOVES it. She announces "let's go to the 'hostipal' to see Whitney and ride the train!"

Laura's parents, Jim and Mary Alice, and Whitney's aunt Nicole (Laura's sister) visited us all at the hospital today. It was a good visit. The only down part of the visit was a patient in a room down the hall coded (had a cardiac arrest) and the place sprang into action. It was a very serious, life or death couple of minutes. Just seeing the seriousness of that situation from afar is enough to shake your soul. It appeared to be a teenage boy. They took him immediately to surgery. Last we heard, he appeared to be breathing. Still, just seeing that makes you want to hug your little ones that much tighter.

I am returning to work tomorrow and hope to resume a somewhat normal life. Laura is going to have her hands FULL once Whitney gets to come home. We'll be just fine. Take care!