Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Prayer Request for Safe Travels

This will be a very short update.  As you all know, Eli is scheduled for surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids as well as place tubes and culture the accumulated fluid in his ears.  That is set for Feb 26.  He will have a lot of labs drawn when he's in surgery (we contact each of his specialties and get lab orders so it can all be drawn while he's under anesthesia).  However, the ENT must have some labs done before surgery.  One set of labs ordered is a basic CBC (complete blood count, shows a variety of things including white blood cells, iron levels, etc).  The other labs ordered were a PT and  a PTT.  Those are testing his bleeding times.  Because of the hardware in his heart and his irregular rhythm, Eli is at higher risk of a blood clot.  To combat that, he has taken half a baby aspirin every other day for years.  The aspirin acts as a blood thinner, so he does bruise easily and bleeds a lot when he's fallen or gets a boo boo. 

The ENT nurse practitioner called me last Wednesday with the results of his bleeding (coagulation) times.  They were high.  Much higher than anticipated even knowing he takes aspirin.  As of now, surgery is still on, but we need a good plan in place if he bleeds more than expected during the procedure.  One of the biggest complications of a tonsillectomy is bleeding, so this is definitely a concern and needs to be addressed.  Simply stopping the aspirin therapy isn't going to solve anything at this point.

So our next step (according to cardiology and the ENT) is to go see a hematologist/oncologist.  That doctor will examine Eli, draw more blood for testing, and make a plan based on Eli's levels that will guide the ENT during the surgery.  That appointment is for tomorrow.  Our original plan was for me and Eli to leave very early in the morning to make our 9am appointment.  But in the last hour, the weather forecast has changed and our area is expecting another inch to two inches of snow (on top of the 6 or so inches we received in the last couple days).   Now we've decided it would be best for me and Eli to get up to Indy tonight and spend the night with my sister. 

We would appreciate prayers that we have a safe trip, get good news with the hematologist, and have a safe trip home.  We're hopeful that we don't have to delay his surgery.  Since getting the diagnosis of Eli's severe sleep apnea, we've put more pieces together and realized just how much this is affecting him and we are anxious to get him some relief...and a good night's sleep!  What we thought was him just waking for cuddles in the night is really him in such a light sleep that he's not ever getting the rest his body deserves and needs.

I have lots of pictures from our Pizza Hut day, but do not have time right now to post them.  For now, please know that we are so grateful and humbled by the turnout.  We don't have any totals yet except that Zachary made $21.25 in tips.  He earned those by being the host and seating people when they came in, cleared tables, got a couple drinks, and checked on every table multiple times during their meal.  He worked hard!  Thank you to everyone who helped make him feel so special!

I will update as soon as I can after the appointment, but I have no idea when it will be!  Thank you for the concern and prayers.  We appreciate it!  Enjoy the snow!  It's beautiful but I know it causes problems for a lot of people. 

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