hey, margaret! his sats and HR match!!!! (in the good way!!!!)

what a difference an afternoon makes!

asher went in for his surgery yesterday at 3:00. at about 6:30, dr c came out and gave me the good news, that asher did well, and the pacemaker is in and working. how do you spell relief? P-A-C-E-M-A-K-E-R-!

the pacer is set to kick in when asher's HR dips below 80, and yeah, it's working right now. but it makes the ECG line on the monitor look interesting. there is now a white spike where the P-wave should be, at the right distance from the QRS line... oh, dear, i know too much about this stuff now. sigh...

asher looks great now, all things considered. he is pale, but it's pale pink now, not grey. and his eyes are puffy, but a couple doses of lasix should clear that up pretty quickly. he isn't draining much, either, and the plan is to remove the drain tomorrow. asher is also in quite a bit of pain. his voice is quiet and he doesn't move much, but we're giving him morphine as needed, so that should help. but he's asking for lunch, and this morning he asked, "mommy, i want go playroom. but not right now. later. after lunch." so this is progress. he knows he's not up for it right now, but he knows he will be once he eats. so that's delightful to see.

he'll be getting a holter today, which is standard procedure after a pacemaker, just to make sure everything is firing the way it should. here's hoping it will be our last holter for a very long time (this will be our 4th in about 3 weeks).

and in case you're wondering about me....

last night i wasn't doing so well. i started down a slippery slope of anxiety again, and i don't want to go back to that, thank-you very much. so i drank some water and went to bed... and didn't wake up till about 9:00 this morning. i'm still tired, but my brain is working the way it's supposed to and i'm feeling better. the exhaustion is only physical right now, and i can deal with that.

in other news...
i've been asking for prayers for several kids lately. today i need to add a couple more.

1. a little girl (i don't know her name, but she's 7) was in a head-on collision on friday. please pray for her and her mom.
2. a little boy, Jack, who had a heart transplant and is now battling cancer.
3. another wee babe, who is 16-months but weighs only 13 lbs. a bunch of us moms were talking with her this morning, and giving her all kinds of questions to ask the docs. has he had a sweat chloride test? screening for chromosomal anomolies? have they checked his heart? what about a GJ-tube (since he's vomitting formula after being without food for 18 hours)? she made a list, and she'll be asking, so i'll try to keep you posted.
4. please remember allison and brigid, shawna and ethan, allyson and ethan (VSD closure), stephanie and mason.
5. a mom i know from SickKids, who has been part of asher's team over the years, just had her first baby 11 days ago. he's here, too. i don't know any details, but Someone does, so please hold them in the Light, too. she looks tired and stressed and scared. she described it as "a rough 11 days."

i think that's about it for today's post. i'm off to get lunch for myself and order something for asher (probably fat-free hotdogs and green jello and chocolate milk). i'll keep you posted.