unfamiliar faces

a new month marks the beginning of a new set of people who will be in and out on Malachi's case. we will be saying goodbye (for now) to dr. engle and hello to dr. allen. i have heard good things about dr. allen from some of the other nicu moms, so that gives me some comfort; but i will miss having a doctor who already is familiar with the ins and outs of Malachi's specific things. i was able to talk with dr. engle a bit when he came in to check on Chi before the changeover. he will be missed. not only do we have a new doctor, but i was also introduced to a new fellow. he is one of the fellows that i've seen around, but he hasn't necessarily been a direct part of Chi's care until now. unfortunately, with all the new people, i was NOT able to really ask many questions as they are just getting up to speed with all their new NICU babies. to make the day just a BIT harder, our regular NNP was out sick so even the NNP working today wasn't familiar with Malachi. :( sad. at least Jo, the nurse, is one of Chi's regulars.

because of the doctor changeover, dr. engle was giving the history of the babies to dr. allen at the bedside. Malachi's history seemed to go on and on and on and on and on and on (you get the idea). boy is it overwhelming to listen to EVERYTHING he has going on in one conversation. i'm learning to just take things day by day--that's all i can do right now, so hearing him list off everything that has already taken place during this hospital course and the things that we haven't even been able to address yet was incredible. this little boy is certainly a fighter!

originally the plan for this week was surgery--gastrostomy placement with Nissen fundoplication and a possible tracheostomy (they are going to evaluate for this with a bronchoscopy immediately preceding the g-tube procedure). unfortunately, those plans are being placed on hold because the cardiac issues are of greater importance. malachi will undergo cardiac catheterization tomorrow morning bright and early (first case at 8 or so) for diagnostic studies. they will mainly be evaluating the bloodflow through the sano shunt that was placed during his open-heart surgery over a month ago. they will also evaluate and take measurements of other areas of his heart as well. obviously, we won't know how to proceed with regard to chi's heart issues until this takes place. hopefully, this will give us a clear and accurate picture of what chi needs in order to get better. this should also tell us if there is something surgically that needs to be done or can be done to help him get better.

chi is still pretty sick (just in general--no specific infection or anything). he's been pretty agitated with his cares and that sort of thing, understandable. the kid just keeps getting poked and proded and he has a huge tube shoved down his throat again and his stent is sticking halfway out his nose! thankfully, if he survives this hospitalization he won't remember any of it. i pray he doesn't remember.

thats all for now. grandma kathy is in town and we're going to spend the afternoon out and about.