Well, our fascination with the generic bear chest drain is coming back to haunt us as Rudy now has THREE guarding the foot of his bed!!! The procedure they did earlier today to drain the fluid around his heart is called Pericardesis. The procedure was successful and quite a bit of fluid has drained already and his heart rate and blood pressure have stabilized. Nurse Faye sent the fluid to be tested right away but this particular test could take up to 24 hours so it is unlikely we’ll hear back today on the results. From what I understand, depending on what kind of fluid is draining from the sack around the heart, Rudy could be treated simply with medication and continued drainage from the generic bears for the next 24 hours or so…OR it could require another surgery (a.k.a. opening him up again) to ligate a duct in the chest where the leak is occurring. So, we must wait and see. Obviously, this delays moving forward on getting Rudy off the ventilator. They tried a sprint early this morning and he was back to tolerating it for only 30 minutes but Dr. Reemtsen wasn’t too concerned feeling like it was most likely because this darn fluid was putting pressure on the heart. I think he feels Rudy will get back on track once the fluid issue is resolved. Rudy looks alot stronger going into this weekend than he did when things started to go wacko last Friday so I’m hopeful we won’t have a repeat of last weekend’s episodes! We sure would appreciate your prayers for such. I’ll keep you posted…
Rudy's Beat 
Trish,
Glad to hear the procedure went well. We love you guys. I am proudly wearing my Rudy armband! 🙂
Bless his little heart and yours, our darling daughter. How I wish I could fix everything. I know I can’t but God can. I keep remembering “technology is our friend” even though I still yell at our computer at times ! Keep up the good fight.
It would appear as though our wonderful children are trying to one up each other in an attempt to drive their parents crazy! It is one of the few times in their respective lives that I hope they both fail miserably. You are still in our prayers. We hope that you have a quiet weekend.
Still remembering you every moment Rudy! I”m wearing my blue bracelet! Go Rudy…!
I will pray that Rudy’s fluid will drain and that it’s not the bad kind and that they don’t have to go in there again. God’s grace to you as you wait another one out. Love and comfort to you!
“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up on wings as eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Teach me Lord, teach me Lord, to wait.”
As I pray for Rudy, and for both of you, I am reminded of the words of Isaiah, sung in the song above. Do you know it? I wish I could send the melody along, but I am singing it and praying it for you. Wait in His time. Sending love to uphold you.
Nan