Monday, April 19, 2010

Looking good!

We just got back from the hospital, and they are all very pleased with Charlie.
The little bit of fluid has gone from his chest, (YIPPEE!), his sats and other measurements are great, he had the stitch taken out of the chest drain site under his arm with minimal distress, and everything is clear on echo, ECG and xray.
It was quite interseting to see his xray - we could see the wires holding his sternum closed, plus his pacemaker and all the wires.
Yet again we really noticed the improvement in Charlie's energy levels - he walked all the way round the hospital, ran up and down several corridors, then all the way back to the car without protest.
Admittedly, he's still walking and running a bit strangely - a bit wobbly-legged, with his right arm bent outwards at the elbow, but that is only to be expected. His muscles have wasted a bit after three weeks without using them much, plus he is still being very cautious and trying to protect his chest/pacemaker. Also, the wound from the chest drain under his arm is still pretty sore - hence the sticky-outy elbow when he walks!
Assuming he stays as well as he is now, we don't have to go back to hospital until we go back to Birmingham for his post-op and pacemaker checks at the beginning of May.
It's brilliant to have a couple of weeks of near normality ahead of us!
We've also just booked a few days away at Center Parcs, before Charlie goes back to school. The three of us are going, and Mum is coming too, so it will be a much-needed relaxing break for all of us! It's so nice to have something to look forward to, other than the Fontan!

3 comments:

alimax said...

Glad everything is going so well. You'll have some lovely times with Charlie now - you so deserve it! Every extra step he can take without being tired makes you ecstatic. I don't even think we bothered letting the exhaustion from the hosp stay catch up with us - we had too much to celebrate! Max remembers that 'when i came home we had pizza, then it was my birthday!' (b'day came a few weeks later, but it was nearly all our birthdays to see him up and about)Max had INR today, which was fine, so next one is in 6 weeks for us. Even better, we were told recently of a new drug with the same effects as Warfarin, but it self regulates, so if you get too high it stops working until it's normalised! After 2.5 yrs of Max on Warfarin, I'm looking forward to that - another few years before they will try it on children.
Is there a better way I can message you, perhaps? I'm not very clued up on this...
Anyway, best wishes, Alison max and Andrew Tinkler

JonB said...

What fantastic news! Well done Charlie, and well done mum and dad. Have a wonderful time away, you sure have earnt it.

sandra said...

glad the appointment went so well