Caden was admitted to the PCICU at MUSC this afternoon. Caden is stable but still at risk for going on a respirator. He is in the ICU getting oxygen and IV fluids. He is being monitored closely for respiratory rate, difficulty breathing, and oxygen saturation of the blood. He was looking okay enough when we left about an hour ago that they were going to start slowly feeding him formula via his g-tube later tonight. His lab results have come back negative for RSV and a couple of other things. It is likely that he just has a nasty little virus that will have to clear on its own. Caden is getting precautionary antibiotics until some lab results on some cultures get back.
While he is in this ICU that is special for heart patients, his presence there is primarily due to the fact that there were no beds available anywhere else in the children’s hospital. On top of that, he has spent over 25% of his life in that ICU and those folks at least know his name. They do not know him as well as we do and that made it hard to leave him tonight. Sherry and I take comfort that the Lord knows Caden better than anyone on this Earth and that the Lord will protect him. A lot can happen once a child leaves the hospital. He has not been seen for over 80 days by these ICU doctors. Caden has been seen by more than a dozen doctors, specialists, and therapists since he was last in the hospital and we as his parents and the good Lord are the only ones with the connection to each of those professionals. It is hard to hand over care of our little boy to folks who have to sift through a foot of records to get an answer to simple questions regarding his care.
I know my babbling may not make a bunch of sense. The short of the story is that today was a really tough day for Caden, Sherry and me. It probably rank this day right up there in the top three toughest days yet for me concerning Caden’s care. That is as clear of a picture as I can give you about today’s events without going into the details.
Please continue to pray for Caden and us. Caden has been and will continue to be protected by God’s grace. Sherry and I are much more suseptible to the influences of things that can cause our faith to waiver. Please thank God for his protection over Caden and ask for strength, discernment, and patience for Sherry and me. My mom came in on short notice to help with Riley so I can continue to work and Sherry can be with Caden as much as possible during the day. Sherry’s mom and dad will come in Sunday to relieve my mom. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and prays.
Hank O.