HAPPY TO BE HOME !!!

CHRISTMAS DAY IN HOSPITAL! WE MADE THE MOST OF IT.


Thank you Joshua for making this the best Christmas ever - he didn't complain once and was as good as gold! We couldn't wish for a better son .

Kaitlyn's Operation

Kaitlyn's operation went ahead as planned on the 22 November 2006 , we spent an anxious 6 hours waiting and were very relieved when we were told Kaitlyn had made it through. The heart surgeon Tim Jones spoke to us about her second vein which he had connected ,was on the narrow side and time would tell whether this was going to affect things. We went on to ITU and saw Kaitlyn who looked awful - she was pale and very blue - her figures were not great and she needed further blood transfusions but the next night they made the decision to bring her off the ventilator. I left her that night with some trepidation as she didnt look great and wasnt that comfortable breathing. The following morning I had a call to say she was in difficulties and they were putting her back on ventilation , by the time I had run over to ITU Kaitlyn had already had a cardiac arrest and they were struggling to re ventilate her - it was a dreadful time while I waited near her bed for news , Simon was on his way from work and I was told Kaitlyn would have to go back into theatre as they did not know why she had become so ill - we were told that she might not make it - I arranged for the vicar to be there to perform a baptism. Caroline Jones and Craig Poole were her Godparents and managed to attend her bedside. After a lovely service Kaitlyn was taken to theatre, another 4 hour wait and we were given the news she had been stable throughout. Her ventilation was changed together with some of her medications and she began to improve. The next 2 weeks saw some rocky times with Kaitlyn still very ill at times but still fighting.

Thankfully she was back on the ward after a traumatic few weeks on ITU , however there was more to come as it quickly became apparent that Kaitlyn was suffering badly from morphine withdrawal symptoms. She was not able to sleep for 3 nights, restless and at times hallucinating. Even being cuddled brought no relief for her , it was very tough to see her suffer. Over the next few weeks she was weaned off the morphine and became more like her usual self.

She improved to such an extent that we were told she would be discharged after the weekend however when her sats were checked they were found to be low and she needed oxygen. A scan revealed that her heart function was not as good as before and she was transferred back to high dependency and onto intravenous drugs to improve the heart function. She was all smiles still and enjoyed being sat up in her cot so she could watch what was going on!

Another few weeks saw Kaitlyn improving and coming off her oxygen and onto different medications. We then had the news that Kaitlyn's wound swabs had shown that she had contracted MRSA , she would need antibiotics! It just seemed like one thing after another and she didnt deserve all these set backs. Luckily it didn't seem to set her back and we started to have some home leaves, these went well so we were eventually discharged after a long 7 weeks! Kaitlyn is having treatment for the MRSA which has spread to her nose and skin.

Thankfully she is feeding well, enjoying her milk and solids more than before. Next will be a cardiac catheter on 23 rd January which will hopefully improve the blood supply to her lungs by inflating the narrow vein. WE are taking each day as it comes and thoroughly enjoying our time at home as a family .