My Life Will Go On (eBook)

Chapter 16

Major Surgery

NOV 8…Today Jessica’s surgery would be done this morning by Dr. Goldstein and Dr. Cohen assisting. We arrived early, around 6:45 am, before the nurses’ shift changed to see her before she was prepped and the surgical team rolled her into the O.R. We met Dr. Mitchell, the anesthesiologist, who talked to us about what he planned to do and the risks involved. She was rolled down to the elevator with several nurses, staff, and Dr. Mitchell. Kat tagged along. They were trying to be careful, but disaster almost struck while being rolled down the hall to the O.R. Dr. Mitchell had to take action from the respiratory technician to save her. We almost lost her before the surgery. Everybody was praying for her. The doctors finally came out to talk to us. The surgery took about five hours. They were pretty happy with what they had done. Dr. Cohen raved about Dr. Goldstein’s work. She said he did a wonderful job and that was good to know.

Two or three hours later, we saw all the doctors running to the PICU. We then knew something was wrong with our baby since they were all her doctors. The section of her trachea that was reconstructed had swollen and oxygen was not getting to her lungs. They had to reopen her chest again and put in the smallest tube down her throat and her trachea, carefully passing the swollen stitched area. It’s like threading a needle, I can imagine. They left her chest open for a few days. After being stabilized, I left with my mother-in-law. Kat stayed overnight in a room near the PICU.

NOV 11…The last two days she had so-called episodes in which the nurses and staff at PICU had difficulty ventilating her and making adjustments. Today her chest will be surgically closed. Again Dr. Mitchell will do the anesthesia, and Dr. Goldstein will do the closure of her sternum. After a while, Dr. Goldstein came out and told us everything went well. We all relaxed a bit.

We were hanging around down the hall of the PICU when we noticed a lot of activity in her room. Something was going wrong. We went to check it out but were told to leave, everybody out. Dr. Rossi came out and told us everything had calmed down and returned to normal. My brother Jimmy and Debra came to visit us and the baby. While they were with us, a small episode was neutralized.

Around 8:00 pm we saw Dr. Goldstein run to her room. Emergency surgery was performed again. Her chest was opened again to relieve pressure and save her life. The doctor came out around 10:00 pm to tell us what happened. She somewhat settled down, so we all went home to rest and sleep a little bit, except for Kat.

NOV 12…Every day was nerve-racking. She was having an episode, adjustments were made, and she was looking good. In another crisis, the tube was changed, and she was stabilized. Up and down every day, it was hard on everybody.

NOV 13…We called and were told she was looking better the past three hours. We got ready and left home to see her. As soon as the doctor in charge, Dr. Davis, Dr. Rossi’s replacement, saw us, he wanted to talk to us. When he did, he was very negative about Jessica surviving all this. He said he had called Drs. Goldstein and Cohen and the chaplain to come over to be with us. The chaplain told us that Jessica’s condition was deteriorating. It sounded very bad. Dr. Davis explained that Dr. Cohen was to remove her tube to look with a scope to try to see if there was an obstruction within the entry to her lungs and to try to clear it if possible. Reinserting the air tube was going to be very risky. Of course, they wanted our okay to go ahead and if we knew the risks. They came out and Dr. Cohen said she looked down as far as she could and no visible obstructions. She could see the tracheal stitches. She said Jessica was a fighter, but that Dr. Davis knew more about the problems overall.

Dr. Davis then tried to tell us in a roundabout way that she had no chance. They had done everything they knew, and she was getting worse and worse. They fear damage to other organs like the brain, kidneys, etc. Her body was acidosis according to the blood gases lab tests. Well, I was speechless, numb, not knowing what to say. Was he trying to tell us to pull the plug? Dr. Cohen and the chaplain suggested that Kat go to Jessica’s room and hold our baby in her arms…possibly for the last time. Was this the end?

We prayed with the chaplain and hoped for a miracle. Maybe we didn’t realize a miracle was in the making. While Jessica was fighting for her life, Dr. Rossi arrived and made some changes. He came out later saying she didn’t look that bad. We were exhausted from all the up-and-down emotions. We went home to rest our minds and bodies.

NOV 14 & 15…These last two days she remained in stable condition.

NOV 16…Dr. Goldstein had planned to close her chest again but postponed surgery until tomorrow because he had to do an emergency operation.

NOV 17…Today Jessica’s sternum and chest were closed again. Hopefully, this will be the last time. It appears her blood pressure was very high but lowering it lowers the oxygenation. They preferred to keep her oxygenation high rather than lower her blood pressure.

NOV 18…Everything was fine except her temperature was high, around 101 plus. They suspected an infection. Damn, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. They are giving her antibiotics. It was serious again. The infection could compromise her whole well-being and ruin her progress thus far. I hope they can curb it in time.

NOV 19…Her high temperature remained a serious problem.

NOV 20…The hospital’s nurse called early this morning at 7:30 am. She said Jessica had a bad night, particularly the last four hours. Something woke me up around 4:00 am this morning. I thought I heard my name called for help. Then I started coughing. Something was choking me; I felt like coughing for a while. Was Jessica calling me? We left right away. I didn’t even shave or shower, still in yesterday’s clothes. We arrived at 8:00 am. She continued to go up and down all morning. It was Sunday morning; we went to the chapel for the service. Kat stayed overnight.

NOV 21…Kat stayed all day with her. It was a pretty boring day except for one small episode.

NOV 22…We were awoken by a hospital call at 5:30 am. The nurse said Jessica had a bad night, and we should know so that we could come in early. We hurried and left for Los Alamitos. When we saw her, we knew she was in trouble. She didn’t look good. Her head and face looked swollen and gray. The nurses looked gloomy. Her first meeting with Dr. Rossi was productive. Another cardiologist came in to help Rossi and oversee an echocardiogram. She had us all worried at one point when her oxygenation went to 39 when 80-100 is preferred. Dr. Rossi again helped the staff and left the room with confidence that she’d be all right. We feel good when he’s around. He has saved her twice and his confidence gives us an inner peace that eventually she will be fine.

NOV 23…But then after lunch today, the most dramatic drop in her numbers and overall health occurred. Her oxygenation dropped to two, her blood pressure dropped so far down, it scared me. We were pushed out of the room. Things looked so bad to us that we thought this was it again. Dr. Goldstein was at home too far away. Dr. Rossi was called and arrived 15 minutes later. It seemed forever. When he arrived, I hurried him to the PICU and her room. I remembered it was 7:00 pm when she took that nosedive while being suctioned. At 10:00 pm finally, Dr. Rossi comes out saying, “Everything is fine.” The tube was changed because it was plugged with a mucous plug, and she looked much better.

NOV 24…It was Thanksgiving Day, and my brother Jimmy invited us for Thanksgiving dinner at his house. We certainly hadn’t had time to plan anything this Thanksgiving like in the past. His house was fairly close to the hospital so we could go there after dinner if we wanted to go to check on Jessica. Before starting to eat the delicious warm turkey dinner that my sister-in-law had prepared for all of us, I volunteered to say a prayer. As we sat and closed our eyes, I prayed, “Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to be with loved ones on this day of thanksgiving. We are grateful for what we have and for your blessings. I want to add that we are especially thankful that our daughter, Jessica, has survived twenty-one days in pediatric intensive care. We pray that she gets well. Amen.”

We were halfway through our dinner when I received a call on my beeper. It was the hospital. I returned the call. I was told to hurry and get to the hospital as soon as possible. Kat and I got up and quickly left. Jimmy and Debbie would catch up to us as best they could. When we got to her room, the doctor who was there was not one of her regular doctors. Dr. Goldstein was with his family celebrating the holiday. Dr. Rossi was in South America to be with his family. The doctor kept telling us that he had to revive her twice with medication in her IV to keep her heart pumping and that we should let her go. Her kidneys are gone, her brain could be gone, and she would be a vegetable. She will still need two additional surgeries later on.

Chaplain Richards had arrived and said, “It’s up to both of you, but she’s suffering, and you guys are...