Working to Gain Balance Again

Well, our little fighter looks like he spent the day in the ring!  Rudy has had a very full day and looks pretty pale and beat up but he’s holding steady.  The challenge today has been to find his balance again…his heart rate and blood pressure have been high and, at times, his sats have been low.  Anytime he has a procedure it takes a while to fine-tune the meds just right so everything works together.  He also has had a fever off and on which Dr. Rick described as a post-op fever…most likely caused by the inflammation in the chest cavity produced during the pleurodesis.  Although the procedure itself is relatively minor, the recovery is actually quite painful.  Rudy will be monitored closely for pain the next 48 hours as he has many sources of pain…his chest cavity, the incision on his side from today’s surgery, the sutures on each foot from Tuesday’s lymphangiogram attempt, and the new picc line they put in his right arm today because the line in his groin fell out after surgery!  I normally have to leave the room when they put picc lines in but today nurse practitioner Anita let me stay if I wore a hair net and mask…I was glad I could stay with Rudy.

As we wait to see whether or not the pleurodesis was effective, we would appreciate your prayers for Rudy’s comfort and the team’s ability to manage his pain the next couple of days.  He deserves a long rest and we pray he does so with as little discomfort as possible.  There hasn’t been any discussion about starting his formula feeds again and I imagine they’ll wait a day or two on that.  Rolf will make his way down tomorrow and stay with Rudy over the weekend…hopefully they’ll both rest comfortably in preparation for a full holiday week next week!  I’ll head home tomorrow to be with the kids and do last minute Christmas prep!  Our whole family will return to L.A. on Tuesday to spend Christmas with Rudy!  How is it that Christmas is only 1 week away?  Blessings to you all…