My Arms Will Soon be Full Again...

SEVEN days!! You read it right.  Seven days until my arms will be full again!  Carter’s traction and fixators will come off on May 22^nd.  We are beyond thrilled.  I can not wait to hold him!  He will still have a long road ahead of him, but I will at least be able to hold him in my arms.  I will be able to soothe him and comfort him. Something I have not been able to do since March.   Once Carter’s fixators and traction come off, his legs will be put in a cast.  They usually do not put a cast on, but Carter has proven how tough he is and they know how bad the withdrawal process is going to be on him.  They usually do what’s called the mer-man wrap after the traction and fixators come off.  The Mer-man wrap is an ace wrap from the hips to the toes.  It is used to keep the legs straight and from being pulled apart.  Carter is strong enough that he would more than likely take the Mer-man wrap off, which could cause damage and possibly cause his surgery to fail.  We all feel that placing cast will be a much safer option.  His cast will start at his thighs and go to his toes. There will be a bar between his legs that will keep him from opening or closing his legs.  Right now, we are not sure if they will be able to do all of this in Carter's room or if he will have to go back to surgery.

Everyone has told us to please understand that we still have a LONG way to go.  Carter still has to be safely weaned off of all of the medications that he is currently receiving.  We could easily be in the PICU another month.  Carter is on so much medication that his body will need to safely adjust to not having the medications.  He will also have some mobility restrictions that he will have to follow.  Another step of recovery is that he will have to have his Ureteral Catheters (Catheters that go up his ureters to his kidneys) removed.  They will do this then wait a few days and remove his supra pubic catheter (catheter that is draining his bladder).  After removing all of the catheters, the doctors will closely monitor Carter’s kidney and bladder function.  Carter’s bladder has never held urine, so we are not sure how it will tolerate urine.  There is a chance that his urine could reflux back into his kidneys and cause kidney damage.  They will do many ultrasounds and monitor his urinary output to make sure this does not happen.  Carter will not be able to leave the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) until he is completely off the Dexmedetomidine and Midazolam. All of his other pain and sedation medications have to be scheduled every 4 hours also. 

We know Carter still has a long way to go, but are just so happy that we will be able to hold him.  Our Nurses and Doctors have made a countdown on Carter’s care board in his room.  It currently says 1 week. I am ready for tomorrow when it says 6 days! They have all repedeately told us to get ready for a fight.  The weaning process is going to be tough.  Our goal is to keep him safe while withdrawing.  Even if we are here another month or 3 months we will continue to patiently wait.  The countdown is on! As always…To Him be the Glory!!!

I am positive if Carter knew what is going to happen in 7 days he would be making some of these faces!!!