Back to Houston

We are once again back in Houston. It all started on Friday morning after we got back from Black Friday Christmas shopping. We were so excited...this being Isaac's first Christmas and our first Christmas all together. Not that we haven't been together for Christmas, but there was always doubt somewhere in the back of my mind. As much faith as someone can have, who wouldn't have that doubt. So anyways, we got back and Isaac's medicine and breakfast was due when we heard him trying to cough something out on his baby monitor. He kept coughing and coughing like he couldn't clear what was there. So Ernest went to go pick him up, brought him over to where we were and patted his back to help him get the stuff out. We thought that maybe it was just some bad congestion built up while he was sleeping, but when he started coughing it up, it came out red. Oh my gosh....we've never been that scared in our lives. It took me a matter of seconds to grab the phone and call 911 and of course you feel like they take forever to get there, but in reality it probably took them about 2 minutes max. So they took him to Midland Memorial where they asked us a series of questions, drew blood, gave him a breathing treatment, and stuck him for an IV. The doctor is telling us that it could be a number of things causing it, but otherwise he is stable and comfortable. He wasn't crying too much..only when they were poking him. At this point we have already been calling the doctors at Texas Children's trying to let them know and we already know that we are headed to Houston again. I immediately headed home to start packing, and within a matter of a couple of hours, we were headed out the door. Ernest left on the jet with him at almost the same time we left by car. Ernest got to Houston an hour and a half later and we finally got there at 8 pm. There were still no answers when we got there, but they did have an idea that the blood probably came from an ulcer in his stomach. He was put straight into a private room with only a pulse ox monitor. After that episode, he seemed happy and was his normal self for most of the time. So, what they said was that they were not 100% sure but that a combination of his two blood thinners (Lovenox and aspirin) caused ulcers in his stomach that started actively bleeding. The only way to check him for active bleeding was for them to do an endoscopy. Since he seemed to be doing fine, the doctors didn't want to put him in any risk with an endoscopy so we were going to be released some time today. So this morning after getting his blood drawn for morning labs, he started coughing. I got up to pat his back and lean him to the side and he started coughing up blood again. This time it didn't seem to be as much but they ordered for them to also get a syringe and see if he had any blood in his stomach through his g-tube. The nurse got some sterile water, pumped it in and pulled it back out slowly and pulled back a lot of fresh blood. This all happened while doctors were doing their morning rounds, so they were just around the hallway. They checked his vitals, checked his heart, and other than him aspirating a little, he was fine. The cardiologist had a talk with the GI doctors and want him scheduled for an endoscopy as soon as possible. He was put on standby but written in for today so here we are. We are hoping that this test will confirm that the bleeding is coming from his stomach and no where else. If they do find bleeding in his stomach, the doctors will go ahead and repair it, but if they find that it is an infection or something else medicine can handle, than they won't do any further intervention and start him on medications. If it is not blood coming from his stomach, then it could be coming somewhere from his ears, mouth, throat, etc, but we are hoping it is his stomach. Please pray that they find the cause and can fix it pretty quickly.
With all of this happening, Isaac is still in good spirits and playing as much as he can. I think we'll go and buy him a "get well soon" balloon that he can knock around after he gets out. He'll have something else to play with besides his mickey mouse beanie that he loves so much. Its so cute to watch him wrestle it sometimes. Most of the time, just putting mickey's ears next to his mouth will make him fall asleep faster. I never thought one of my kids would have a security item. Needless to say, we've stocked up with 2 more mickey mouse replacements. ;-) I'll update once he is out. We may not have any news on what it is yet, but at least he'll be out of anesthesia. God Bless all of you who think of him often. We love all of you.


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