Devin's Heart Cath Procedure Tomorrow!
Devin has been home with us now for 5 weeks! He turned 3 months on July 7th, and seems to be settling in to life at home very well! They always told us how loud it was in the hospital, so maybe he’d sleep better at home. Ha! Have you been in a house with 3 little boys throughout the day with all their shenanigans? No. It’s not quiet by any means, but he’s learned to sleep through a LOT.
Caring for Devin is a full time job, so those 3 little boys (and their shenanigans) are basically like overtime. Devin has about 6 appointments a week; some at home, some in Dallas. He has morning and evening medications as well as feedings every 3 hours, including all throughout the night. So there is a lot going on at home all the time.
One of our biggest struggles is him coughing up his feeding tube several times a week leaving us with the responsibility of putting it back in. So a common question from others is “how long will he need to have the feeding tube?” And the answer is, when he can take all of his daily feeds by mouth, and at this point he’s a long ways from that. Since Devin’s heart is working harder than yours and mine, feeding by month is similar to running a marathon for him. Devin also has bad acid reflux, which is primarily caused by the feeding tube being down his throat. With the feeding tube down his throat, it causes him to gag much easier, and then will not take a bottle once that happens. It’s a vicious cycle, which in reality will continue until sometime after his next surgery. We are hoping that after his next surgery we can get him off of the feeding tube fairly quickly.
So, this week we are heading to the hospital for Devin’s planned Cath Procedure of his heart. This is a standard procedure that allows them to take a look at the heart more closely to see how it’s functioning & to take the necessary measurements prior to scheduling his next open heart surgery; the Glen. Wednesday morning we’ll head to Dallas for the Cath Procedure and he’ll stay overnight so they can keep an eye on him before we are discharged on Thursday.
While this procedure is nowhere near as serious as his heart surgeries, he will still be going under anesthesia and will need to be intubated again. We know and trust he is in the best hands, but it’s still hard to watch him go through this. We would appreciate you keeping him in your prayers on Wednesday. Specifically that the procedure would go smoothly without any complications, and that his doctor would gather the details needed for his upcoming surgery.
Pray for us. We are weary. The Lord has been so very faithful in giving us the strength for each day to do all that is required of us, but the days seem so long and Dan & I miss having an hour in the evening to just sit and talk...without the interjections of three chatty little boys.
Although this has been hard, we have constantly felt the sustaining hand of the Lord holding us up. We have also been blessed by so many who have brought us dinner, watched our kids, sent a card, or a note of encouragement. Thank you all for being the hands & feet of Jesus during this difficult season!
Caring for Devin is a full time job, so those 3 little boys (and their shenanigans) are basically like overtime. Devin has about 6 appointments a week; some at home, some in Dallas. He has morning and evening medications as well as feedings every 3 hours, including all throughout the night. So there is a lot going on at home all the time.
One of our biggest struggles is him coughing up his feeding tube several times a week leaving us with the responsibility of putting it back in. So a common question from others is “how long will he need to have the feeding tube?” And the answer is, when he can take all of his daily feeds by mouth, and at this point he’s a long ways from that. Since Devin’s heart is working harder than yours and mine, feeding by month is similar to running a marathon for him. Devin also has bad acid reflux, which is primarily caused by the feeding tube being down his throat. With the feeding tube down his throat, it causes him to gag much easier, and then will not take a bottle once that happens. It’s a vicious cycle, which in reality will continue until sometime after his next surgery. We are hoping that after his next surgery we can get him off of the feeding tube fairly quickly.
While this procedure is nowhere near as serious as his heart surgeries, he will still be going under anesthesia and will need to be intubated again. We know and trust he is in the best hands, but it’s still hard to watch him go through this. We would appreciate you keeping him in your prayers on Wednesday. Specifically that the procedure would go smoothly without any complications, and that his doctor would gather the details needed for his upcoming surgery.
Pray for us. We are weary. The Lord has been so very faithful in giving us the strength for each day to do all that is required of us, but the days seem so long and Dan & I miss having an hour in the evening to just sit and talk...without the interjections of three chatty little boys.
Although this has been hard, we have constantly felt the sustaining hand of the Lord holding us up. We have also been blessed by so many who have brought us dinner, watched our kids, sent a card, or a note of encouragement. Thank you all for being the hands & feet of Jesus during this difficult season!
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