Post Surgery Saturday Nov 18, 2005

Yesterday's traech surgery went well. Nikhil has been fluctuating on the numbers a bit, albeit more so then anticipated. Chetanbhai will fill in the details when he gets a chance. His under-developed lungs are still a major concern. But as of now, he's holding steady. Next few days may be challenging. We're all praying for him. Thank you for all your support. - Hiral(fuva)

Surgery was successful

I just wanted to give a quick update on Nikhil's surgery. The doctor's didn't find any hole in the diaphragm but the skin was pretty thin (like the trash bag analogy Chetan gave). The doctors moved the liver down and tied up the skin to add some more support. After the surgery, the xray showed that there was more space in the lung cavity. The next 48 hours are pretty critical as Nikhil recovers. Chetan will fill in the rest of the details. Thanks, Mujahid

Everyone is getting better slowly and steadily and His Name is....

To ALL ( this is Chetan posting this message), Thank you so much for your well wishes and prayers. I know, without them and the efforts of all of the hospital staff we wouldn't be where we are today. First of all let me apologies again, for not being able to communicate (talk/email) during the past week to each and every one of you. It has been one hell of a Roller Coaster ride. This is why I asked my mom/Neha and Her Mom/Tonuka/Mujahid (thanks again for setting up this Web Log) to act as a filter to our nearly 150+ family members who were wondering what's going and if there is something that they can do to help. Too many ups and downs for my liking. It's just that I have never been faced with so many true Life or Death turning points for the people that I love. So, in that regard please understand that It is not that we don't want to speak to people, it is just I wanted to spent any ounce of energy I had to make sure that they were doing well. So with that on to the update: She is recovering very well. Still a little weak from all of the Antibiotics she has been taking. Specifically, they truly don't know what it was that made her so sick. The doctors have conferred that it is most likely an infection but from where and what reason, it is not truly clear. Clinically, she is feeling much better and for them this is what's more important and there is no indication of a relapse. She was looking very toxic on Sunday and all of them were gravely concerned for her health. Our Son :-D His name is: Nikhil Desai. It's a Sanskrit word basically meaning: Complete, The whole / Universe. We wanted to choose something that is derived from the language that both of our respective languages were based on. Also, it was a name we both could agree upon without having to cut down each other's native languages :-D ........ So, Nikhil, is doing just fine, relatively speaking. His first battle is breathing. He is on a ventilator and getting help to breathe. He seems to be liking the Oscillating Ventilator more then the Normal Oxygen ventilator. I can go into more detail in a separate post on all of things they are doing if there is interest. Beyond that, as far as the next few days go, they are currently just going to let him rest and get bigger. In the past few days they have slowly started to feed him some breastmilk and are increasing the dosages as he starts to process it. We started at like 1-3 DROPS per 6 hours and are working our way up from there!! woo hoo!!... If things go well it will be a long and steady climb upwards for him. As I have mentioned to many of you already, he has something called Diaphramatic Hernia ( forgive my spelling), where essentially there is a hole in his Diaphram on the Left side that may be impacting the development of his left lung. Again I can go into more detail if there is more interest. He will eventually need surgery to fix this problem. The surgery in itself is fairly straightforward and can fix the problem. However, the Pediatric Surgeon who performs this surgery mainly on Full Term Babies and usually about 4-5 days after their birth, as the birth process is a very stressful time for the baby. With Nikhil, they are going to wait as long as possible before doing the surgery. They will keep an eye on it via regular X-Rays to make sure that nothing else is growing or getting through the hole. Besides that, thank you for everyone who were there for us in the past few days. It is with your help in everything thing you have done that allowed them to get better. Chetan.

Stable

Baby Boy is doing well. He was placed on a normal ventilator today and he is taking it much better than last time. There is an ultrasound schedule for tomorrow to check his brain. Mouna is a bit anemic and because of the antibiotics she doesn't have much of an appetite. Other than that, she is stable and back to her usual self. Chetan sounded bit rested today.

Out of ICU

Mouna' s condition has gotten better; she is off the oxygen and out of the ICU and into the "Step Down" unit. Looks like the antibiotics are working and hopefully they will eradicate the infection in next few days. Baby is fine and going steady.

Mouna is a doing much better today. Her fever broke and it seems that she might have an acute form of pneumonia. The theory about something being left behind (mentioned in the previous post) didn't pan out. There is something there, but not anything foreign. More CAT scans and other tests are expected to further diagnose the issue. The antibiotics are working and helping her get better. The surgery option is looking less likely. She was allowed to eat today and she had some light stuff. She is in good spirits. Chetan mentioned that the doctor's might make a determination to downgrade her condition and move her out of the ICU. On the baby front...he is doing great. He is off the high frequency oscillator (which used to completely shake his body) to a normal ventilator. A step down in the right direction. The little fella is looking great, exploring his boundaries, kicking and trying to fight with his nurse Kathy.

Mouna's Update

Today was a rough day for Mouna. She was moved to ICU because of persistent high fever in range of 104 degrees F. She was subjected to battery of tests, regiment of antibiotics, CAT scans and heart exam. It seems that something that should have been removed from the uterus during the caesarian, was left behind and that might be causing the infection. The doctor's are not sure as of yet, but this seems to be a plausible theory. They are treating her with lots of antibiotics, hoping that this would cure the infection. Should the antibiotics not work, the doctors may have to operate on her again. Also, she has some water in her lungs which is causing some breathing problems. She is currently getting pure oxygen to help her breathe. The water in the lungs is byproduct of her body's effort to fight the infection. They are giving some diuretic to help remove the water, but this is a temporary solution. Baby Boy is doing good getting better and stronger by the day. He is breathing more on his own and using less support of the machines to help him breathe. He is in the NICU. Its been a long day. :(

Blogs for Baby, Mouna & Chetan

Guys, I will post regular updates regarding Mouna and the Baby as they become available. Please check this site regularly for any updates. If possible, please use these blogs as a mechanism to update yourselves instead of calling Chetan directly. He is under a lot of stress and these blogs are to help him relay the same information to everybody in a timely fashion without him repeating himself over and over again. All the cousins on both sides, please update your respective parents. Please share this blog link with all concerned. Thanks for you understanding. Mujahid Ali