Lyra's surgery went as well as could be expected. The surgeons did not encounter any complications during the procedure and we were told Lyra did very well. She's back in the PICU and stable.
It's kind of a shock to see her now. For such a small little thing, she's got a large number of tubes and sensors attached to her. The IVs are bad enough, especially when she's got them in 3 out of 4 appendages, but the new items are her 3 chest tubes that are necessary to drain out the fluid around her incision.
Maren and I are doing okay though. We had a chance to read a bit to her tonight and the nurse allowed us to clean her a little. We finally went home afterwards and even that is difficult, just doesn't seem right to leave your newborn child alone at the hospital, but she's getting very good care and since she's sedated the entire time, there's not much one can do except just be there with her. We're also very tired. Maren especially needed to sleep in our own bed for a while.
The next milestone for Lyra will be sometime in a few days, maybe as long as a week, when the doctors close her incision. It was left open and covered because with the swelling, it's too hard on her newly reconstructed heart to have the chest closed back up. They wait until the swelling has gone down and Lyra has had a chance to begin expelling the additional fluids given to her during the surgery.
Posted by Tim at February 17, 2004 10:50 PM