Holding Our Breath

Another Good Night

Just got off the phone with Gavin- Zoe had a pretty good night. She had an episode of some breathing difficultly around 5am and they gave her a steroid breathing treatment and that seemed to help. She is currently getting breathing treatments every four hours and she continues to need a lot of oxygen. But Gavin said they both got some sleep last night.

Ailsa and I came home last night to get some rest. Ailsa was having a tough time sleeping away from home and spending the entire day at the hospital. I am hoping that Zoe remains stable and Ailsa and I will spend the day at home. I get the fun job of doing the laundry and paying some bills! It is difficult to do any of that when all I want to do is sit by Zoe's side holding her and singing to her. We also started to read Harry Potter but I am skipping any of the scary parts.

The Plan

For now we are keeping a close eye on Zoe's oxygen needs and any sign of a new infection. She spiked a fever last night but it seems to be ok this morning. We will have to spend yet another holiday at Sick Kids. (For you Americans reading this- Monday is a holiday called Family Day in Canada....I am not sure but I think it is just an excuse to have a day off in February. We have a few holidays like that here and I like it!) And poor Zoe will have to spend another birthday in hospital. They ordered a birthday cake for Zoe for Tuesday and asked what type of gift she would like. As long as Zoe continues to be stable, Gavin will work again on Sunday and Monday. It is very difficult to for him to work right now but it is what needs to be done for our family. He missed a shift on Wednesday but was able to work most of Thursday and all of Friday. Anyone in the Toronto area who wants to stop by and lend a hand with the girls is more than welcome!!!! Sheena is leaving for a 6 week Australia trip tomorrow so we will be short that extra pair of hands.

Zoe's chest is sounding "different"- a lot more crackles and noise. Which could be good, it means the mucus is moving around now. When I listened to her chest earlier in the week it was eerily silent in the lower lobes because she was not moving any air there. So hopefully crackles is moving in the right direction. They ordered chest physio with suction twice a day. They don't want to move the mucus too quickly so we are not supposed to do our own physio. We just get Zoe up into a chair a couple times a day and she sits up in bed so she is not lying down all the time. Any time we put the bed flat to change her diaper, Zoe's oxygen levels quickly go down despite the all the oxygen she is on.

We don't know yet if there is any damage to her heart. The team is not focused on that right now. It is more important to address Zoe's breathing issues and the fluid in her chest.

So that is where we are at.