Baby Frankie's Journey: Post Op Day 1

Hey everyone,

Sorry for just now getting an update out. The first 48 hours after surgery are always so tough. Getting the right sedation without over doing it and getting the right about of pain medications. The perfect "cocktail" as my mom put it! :) So, let me break this down and try and get all the details I can in this post.

Surgery: Everything went well. There were no complications or unexpected problems. The surgery only took about 3 hours. They were able to obtain full muscle and skin closure without any synthetic materials! That's amazing! We weren't sure if this was going to have to be a stages surgery or not. Frankie did not end up with a g-tube. With the placement of his liver and the way they would've had to have finagled it around his organs to his stomach, the surgeon wasn't comfortable placing it. If he is to get one, it won't be for 6 months. Honestly, Joe and I are hopeful that after he is fully recovered, we can pull the ng tube and just let him figure out how to eat by mouth. He's actually (prior to this surgery) been doing pretty well drinking is soy pediatric drink and eating some foods and telling us when he's hungry. Ideal as if the no g-tube may be a blessing in disguise. We shall see!

Overnight: Frankie has done fairly well now is still intubated as of now (11:47am). The plan is to wean his ventilator settings today and tonight and then extubate in the morning tomorrow. They just don't want to rush it. He's initiating all of his own breaths which is great but still has to be weaned down on some pressure settings. Last night he had a couple of bad de-sat moments and his ox-saturation drop in the 60's and then another time in to the 40's (terrifying). They are trying to keep Frankie lightly sedated so that he can breath on his own. He is on versed for that and something they call "dex" (dexmedetomide) to take the edge off. He's on a small amount of fentanyl for pain. He has an epidural in his back that administers the good pain meds to his abdomen. His urine output tapered off last night. This caused him to swell a bit. They are planning to take his catheter out since it keeps clogging. This should help the urine output and relieve some swelling. If he doesn't urinate in 6 hours, it goes back in. Frankie also developed a fever last night. It's not as high as it was last night but he still has a mild one. They're doing urine, blood and respiratory cultures to make sure there's no bacteria growing.

The plan today is just to wean his vent settings and make sure he remains comfortable. And get him to pee! I do believe that is all for now. I will update Facebook later this evening.

Please keep Frankie in your prayers through this difficult recovery process. He is strong but all the prayers and good wishes definitely help our Frankie! Also, please keep his fellow O buddy Hayden in our prayers, too. He is just a few rooms away in the picu with us.

I'm posting pictures of Frankie's surgery. They aren't gruesome but may not be for everyone. We are so proud of our son Frankie and want to share all of his amazing strength with you all! Love you all and many, many thanks!!!!

Last O picture, ever!