Thursday, June 08, 2006

Milk and pretzels

My friend Jennifer's 2-year-old chunk of a baby has now been in heart surgery for about an hour. He still has five to go. He has a congenital heart defect that has already been operated on but now he has to has a shunt put in. This surgery is particularly nerve-wracking for Jennifer because it has a much higher risk of complications than the previous ones.

If you are of the praying persuasion, please pray for great big Noah Atticus (who I watched take a huge bite of peanut butter sandwich but skillfully skimmed the top of the sandwich with his teeth to only have to eat the peanute butter and none of the bread), Jennifer's anxiety and the skill and the wisdom of the surgeons and nurses that are taking care of him.

If you are more of the spiritual-but-not-religious persuasion, please send your positive energy in their general direction, which is Chicago.

1 comment:

PrincessMax said...

Noah is doing as well as can be expected. None of the complications have occurred but he'll be in the hospital a few more days. Apparently, when his mother asks if he wants to watch The Muppet Show to alleviate the monotony of the Teletubbies, he shouts, "No Muppets! Tubbies!" What's a mother of a strong, charming little fighter to do?

There are sentences in her emails that break my heart: "He had a big meltdown this afternoon--they began weaning him off of his Fentanyl this morning, and we think he's either going through some withdrawal and/or he's in more pain with the chest tubes. He was inconsolable, even after we went through gargantuan efforts for me to hold him in the rocking chair (there are a lot of very short tubes and lines to keep together), so they eventually gave him a sedative and some more pain meds and he fell asleep."

Still, she says that, overall, he is doing well and I thank all of you for your prayers on my friend's behalf.