Back to TCU

Today, Grady was released from the PICU. Yea, Grady. He is so happy to be back in his bed. For now, Grady is still a little sedated, but they are weening him off of the sleep medication he has been on since his last surgeries. Yesterday, the surgeon read Grady's last MRI. He was pleased with what he saw. Grady did not get an all clear report, but everything appears to be moving in the right direction. Now that he is back on his transition floor, the respiratory specialists will begin weening Grady off of the respirator again. He will also get to begin his bottle feeds again. We don't know when that will begin, but I know the little man is really missing his bottle.

While we were in the ICU, Grady was introduced to 'Sweeties'. It is a natural sweetener that helps encourage and teach babies to suck the pacifier or bottle. They also use it to help rid the child of hiccups. Well, Mr. G. is loving his sweeties. He will lick his lips and smack. This is his way of asking for something to moisten his mouth. And you know his JoJo is going to try to give him what he wants. Thus, the sweeties. It is a good thing Grady does not have any teeth just yet, otherwise, his Mommy might just send me some dental bills.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. Mom and Dad took thier picture today. The other handsome couple is Mommy's Mommy and Daddy. I thought since Grady is in his home away from home, you all might enjoy some family pictures.

As always, thank you so much for your prayers and support. This was a rough time for my family and having your support and love has carried us through it one more time.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Better Days

Grady is doing much better these last couple of days. He is still in the PICU, but you can see the smile for yourself. We are beginning to see our little boy returning to himself. He has been through a lot these last two weeks. If you are counting, Grady has had three procedures in the last two weeks. All of them in his head. He has spent the last week sedated, so we have spent a great deal of time at the hospital with him. The doctors have begun to reduce his sleep drip and his pain medication. This has caused him a little discomfort because the sleep medication is a narcotic and coming off of that has given our little man a challenge. Last night, he had a rough time of it. According to his care givers, he was wide awake for most of the night. Today, Grady has slept most of the day. They have begun the weening process again today. Let's hope this little fella' gets some sleep tonight.

During Report, one of Grady's doctors asked if the patient has been out of his bed. When the nurse told him no, he ordered more treatment. This PRN (as needed) is for JoJo, Mommy and Daddy. The doctor ordered the patient be allowed to get out of bed, PRN. Now that is one treatment that I completely agree with. Needless to say, Grady spent several hours in my arms, on his tummy today. This may be why some people fall in love with their doctors.

As always, thank you for your prayers and support. We are so very blessed to have you in our lives and family.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Way to Go, Grady!

Grady has come through his dual surgeries just like the fighter he is. The neurosurgeon was able to drain the infected area and he also got the cyst to drain into the proper canal. This is not the most flattering picture of our little guy, but he was just waking up. I knew you would want to see him so you would not worry. For now, Grady should sleep for the next several days. They have re-started his sleep drip and pain medication to keep him resting comfortably.

Thank you for all your prayers. Check back soon and I will put some cute pictures of Grady to let you see how well he continues to recouperate.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Another Surgery Friday

Grady has to go under the knife again tomorrow. The Neurosurgeon wants to go in and drain a spot on each side of his head. Because there is an infection, it will be two procedures back to back. They have to do one, then begin again with another sterile area to go into the other side. There is not much to tell at this point, but I will keep you informed as I find out information. For now, please pray for our little boy. He is such a little fighter. This may come to a shock to all of you, but he is charming his way into the hearts of many wonderful and caring nurses, Therapists and lots of other care givers.

Talk soon,

JoJo

Grady is a Rock Star

You have heard it before, but Daddy keeps telling us Grady will come through this like a Rock Star. Well, our little Rock Star has been blessed again. He has a staff infection in his brain. How scary is that? The doctor told us this morning that his infection is one of the lesser ones and they know the exact treatment to clear this up. Thank you, Lord! and thank you, everyone, for praying for this little guy.
We are not out of the woods yet, though. Grady will have to undergo another surgery so they can put an external drain in. This will allow them to drain the pockets of infection and flush the areas. Little G is receiving a sleep drip to help him sleep through all of the recouping time as well as a little pain medication. He rests well with his booster! He doesn't appear to be in pain most of the time, but when his stats start climbing, we know the pain is starting. But the ICU nurse just gets Grady his booster and within minutes, Little man is resting again.
One more thing you will enjoy knowing. Grady is becoming quite the popular little guy in the ICU. His nurse asked Mommy if that was Seth James that came to visit Grady. Why yes it was. Grady's nurse was pretty excited. She told us that her boyfriend was a big fan and that she was raised in W.F. Such a small world. Thanks, Seth and Jessica for coming to see our little boy. It was great seeing you both.

As always, thank you all for your many prayers, texts and loving thoughts.
Talk soon,
JoJo

Surgery over for now

Grady has been through a lot today. He had three different procedures done. He has a medical port line, he had the infection drained and they also drained his left ventrical. The fluid in the left ventrical appears to be clear. That is very good news. We will not know if there is any infection in that fluid for several days. They have sent all fluids off for cultures. As you know, that will take up to 72 hours.
The neurosurgeon was very pleased with Grady and how well he handled all three surgeries today. As Daddy keeps telling us, Grady came through it like a rock star. He is in pain, but his doctor has put him on a anesthsia drip for tonight to let him rest and calm down. Grady is have a minor issue with his vital signs, but again, he is in a lot of pain. His vitals are high, but not so high they are worried. They are concerned enough to let him sleep through the night with assistance. We may still be looking at another surgery, but for tonight, we will wait and see. Doctor says, one thing at a time. So, we will let Grady get through this before we address the next step.
I know I am leaving a lot of your questions unanswered, but I don't have any answers for you for now. There does not seem to be an explanation for the infection other than it could possibly have been there for some time and is just now causing problems for Grady.

Keep those prayers coming. It works and Grady is proof of that. Hold your loved ones tight and thank you for all you are doing to help support and pray for my family.

Talk soon,
JoJo

Surgery Update

Just wanted to give you all an update. Grady went into surgery at 12:00. With three procedures to complete, they will probably take around 4- 6 hours. We will not know anything until they give us calls after each procedure. For now we are just asking that you pray for our little man. I will put more information out as we receive it. First surgery is to put a line in for the antibiotics that G will require for about the next 6 weeks. Then they will drain the infected areas to pull that off of his brain. Last but not least, the surgeon will move to the other side of his brain to see if they can relieve pressure from the cyst that is pushing on his brain. So, we are looking at a very long day and a very long recouperation.

Grady was alert this morning and smiling at Mommy and Daddy. He was responding much better today than he was yesterday. Later, we may have more surgery facing him, but for now they will concentrate on the infection and the pressure.

Thank you all for your prayers and support.

More updates later.

JoJo

Lots of new changes

Grady is recieving new settings, again. This little boy has taken on most of the breathing. He has certainly taken on this challenge. Grady's doctor began the weening last week. This week, we are looking at more changes. Today, the respirator pressure is getting dropped to 4. When Grady moved to the TC Unit, it was in the 20's. Three days ago, they added the Passy Muir. This is a connection that forces Grady to exhale past his voice box. Little G has been talking without this connection, but this allows him to be heard much better. It adds volume to his voice. He did not like this very much and only tolerated it for about a minute. Grady will get to try this daily until he gets used to it. The way this little man has taken all his other changes lately, gives me confidence that this will not slow him down either.

Grady is now taking three bottles a day and those bottles are 50 ml each. Are you surprised to know that he is not best pleased when the bottle is empty and he can not have any more? I'm not. He has also moved up to 75 ml each meal. As he continues to gain weight, the doctors will up his amounts. Don't tell anyone, but Grady has a burp that can be heard across the room. His burps are not little or just one at a time. Grady will be burping the alphabet before we get him home.

Grady has a mobile that plays music. He loves it. The music is very calming to him and helps drown out the other sounds in the unit. One thing he seems to not appreciate though, is one button on his mobile. It plays a song from Bach. It is pretty funny to watch his expression. Much like the one it the picture above. This song will raise his blood pressure and make him fidget. There is another child on the other side of the unit that cries and Grady can hear him. Grady will give me this look, that makes me laugh. He does not like that sound, either. I keep telling him that I can not stop that sound, so we just hit a button on his mobile to help cover the crying. This seems to give Grady something to concentrate on and makes him happy again.

As always, thank you all for your love and support. Grady is such a blessing and I can not wait until all of you get to meet this little cutie in person. I pray that God blesses each of you as much as he has blessed this family.

Talk soon,
JoJo