Being Thankful

If there has been one lesson Tammy and I have learned with all of Declan's surgeries, it has been to be grateful for what you have. We have been reminded of this the past few days as we have gotten to know the parents of other heart defect children. Our current room is shared, and our previous "roomie" was a little boy that a kind family from Michigan had adopted from China. He has some heart issues similar to Declan, "plus some". In the months leading up to Declan's surgery, we would be nervous for oxygen sats in the high 70's - the young boy from China usually measured in the high 60's that was his "normal" saturation.   I am amazed and grateful that a young father and mother could find the courage to adopt a child with such a known set of problems. And last night Tammy met up with a couple of other heart "mothers" for dinner - one of which lost her daughter at age 8 or so and one mother whose stay here is not going very well for their child. We are frequently reminded how blessed we are with Declan's progression with this surgery.

We have had relatively little hiccups. He is still a bit grumpy, and we have to keep working on him to get him to flash his cute little smile. We know that his demeanor will improve once the drainage tubes from his chest are removed. (The drainage continues to decrease, but not enough to remove the tubes as of yet.)  No fever. His heart rate was a bit high today, but we think it was due to a loss of fluids. It currently is back into range, so hopefully it will stay there. He took a couple of little walks today. (Measured in steps - from the bed to the wagon - and back again). Declan also had the gamete of tests: blood drawn, xrays', etc. They continue to be pleased - just working on getting the drainage out of his chest so we can have our happy little camper back!