Monday's Update - Looking good

Wyatt looks amazing, the best ever! His color is perfect and all his vital signs are great. His operations were successful and hopefully we will not have any further operations. Wyatt does not like surgery. It's always a rocky road afterwards.

His goal now is getting weaned from the ventilator. He holds my finger throughout the day and follows the pages in the books with his big blue eyes. His favorite is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He loves to look at the pictures of the sun and butterfly and laughs when the caterpillar becomes really fat!! He is the cutest ever!!

We did experience a setback today. The doctors noticed in the head sonogram that the bleeding has progressed in his right temporal lobe. The neurological team immediately examined Wyatt and their suggestion was to monitor it with CT scans and hopefully the blood will be reabsorbed. If it's not reabsorbed then after he is stable (weaned from the vent) a shunt will be inserted or the doctors will drain the blood similar to an IV.

We told the doctors that we do not want to "watch" it to find out if it gets worse, but the doctors emphasized that conducting a procedure would be too risky. I trust them.

The consequence of bleeding in the right temporal lobe is seizures, Wyatt is on a medicine that will help prevent seizures.

Wyatt is very alert and moves his hands and feet which are all great signs! Wyatt is a little miracle in the making. He has endured ECMO and two operations. This is just
another hurdle he needs to get over.

Please continue to pray for our little miracle baby. He is the sweetest!!

"Bag of Organs"

Today was a good day! Wyatt was moved off the oscillator onto the ventilator and it was very uneventful. He is also less swollen because he is peeing a lot!! The doctors are planning surgery to put the silo of organs back into his abdomen for
Friday or Saturday. The head sonogram showed no changes which is good. The blood looked a little darker which means that it's getting absorbed and it's old blood.



I took video of Wyatt today so that he can show off his "bag of organs" for show and tell one day in school. Wyatt is feeling your thoughts and prayers. It's working so please keep it up. I am looking forward to the recovery period.

Post Operation

Wyatt is staying strong. Today was a calm day. Wyatt seems to like the slow and steady course. His stats were stable today.

He is currently on a oscillator that gives him 600 breaths per minute. Wyatt's problem is that he tries to breath on his own when he is not allowed to on the oscillator. He is sedated, but the doctors are having difficulty finding the correct sedation for him because he is so alert!! The doc's said he has enough sedation to knock out a horse, but Wyatt seems to wiggle around, moving his toes, feet, hands, arms, and opens his eyes. Maybe I just talk and sing to him to him too much??? The nurses have to tell me to stop stimulating him!!

Today he was calm and we both followed orders!! His next step is moving to a ventilator. They tried to start the process, but Wyatt was not ready to move on to the ventilator yet. We are hoping for him to use the ventilator soon.

Also, the doctors take a sonogram of his head every day and today they found an Intraventricular Hemorrhage in a ventricle in his brain. Out of four grades, it's rated grade 1/2 which is minor. We are hoping it will stay this way. We have to pray for two more things before he is out of the woods.

1. Moving on to the ventilator
2. Good head sonograms

The pediatric intensive care is such a special place, full loving and caring parents that sit by their children's beds for hours upon hours. Hopkins is the only place that will do heart surgery on infants. Most babies that I have met went through heart surgery, like Wyatt's roommate and friend little Christopher.

Yesterday, a little 5 year old girl, Victoria woke up from sedation for the first time in a few weeks after heart surgery. I witnessed her dad, who is a huge Baltimore City Police Officer, embrace her and cry his heart out of joy, and then hugging his wife still crying full of happiness.

Also, I look forward being with Chloe. Today is the first day I saw her since Sunday evening. She is my little medicine. She is always in a great mood.

Thank you for the support.

Gina

The Surgery and After

Greetings Everyone! Wyatt is truly living up to his name as being strong and brave. We just got home at 7am for a couple hours of sleep before we go back to Hopkins.

The surgery was 4 hours long and it was a success. It is still a touch and go time. The doctor informed us he has a 50/50 survival chance over the next 48 hours and then it jumps to 75 percent. So keep your prayers coming!

It took a long time to pack him up and move the ECMO machine down the hall to the operating room. About 10 people pushed him down the hallway. The operation was about 4 hours. The surgeon gave us three choices, that he would remain on ECMO (most conservative), that they would clamp him off, but still be attached to ECMO, or they would remove the machine and take the cannules out of his carotid artery (the most aggressive move). I felt safe with no. 2. In surgery they removed the ECMO machine
completely!

The surgeon, Dr. Abdullalah said that the large intestines, small intestines, spleen, stomach,and half the liver was in his chest and that there was not much diaphragm. So he used a gortex patch to repair the diaphgram. All the organs would not fit in his abdomen, so the liver and spleen are currently in a silo outside of his body (in a plastic bag). Soon, after he is stabilized, they will be placed back where they belong. Wyatt has a good size right lung to support him and a small left lung that will continue to grow until age 5-8 years old.

Last night was very touch and go to get him stabilized. He continued to bleed and his blood pressure was decreasing along with the hemoglobin count. Because Wyatt had a "little window" to his abdomen, the surgeons placed gauze inside him and put in a chest tube in to remove the blood. The two surgeons did not leave his side last
night until things were under control, even though they had a full schedule today.

They also ordered a rare blood clotting drug called "Factor 7" used for
soldiers in Iraq. A small dose cost thousands of dollars I was told. It clotted his blood immediately
and this morning his blood pressure, hemoglobin count, and bleeding are under control.

I was told that if he was on ECMO after surgery, that he probably would not of survived because of the blood thinners that are needed to be on it. The docs and nurses told us to go home for a few hours to get some rest. Wyatt is a tough boy and I tell him all the time about all the support and love that surrounds him. Thank you for everything.

Gina

Surgery is scheduled

Today was a great day. The special gas (I found out it is only at Hopkins and can only be used on two kids at a time)seems to be working. He is breathing on his own and is still comfortable. The trial off ECMO today was for 45 minutes and it went perfectly!! So the doctors added Wyatt on for surgery tomorrow!!! He will probably remain on ECMO for a few days after his surgery. We are going to meet with the surgeons tomorrow morning around 7am. Wyatt needs your prayers and support more than ever now.

Thank you for everything.

Prayers are working..

Thank you. Your prayers are working. Wyatt is staying strong and he knows that you are thinking about him (I tell him everyday). The blood in his
stool seems to be clearing up. Now the doctors are trying to wean him off ECMO so that he can havesurgery. Surgery has not been scheduled until he is
weaned off ECMO.

On Thursday, they clamped off ECMO for 20 min. Yesterday, ECMO was clamped off for 1
hour, and they are going to clamp off again tonight. Each day, the doctors try a different plan. Today's plan is trying to get Wyatt to breath more on his own.
So they reduced the ECMO to 32 percent and lowered the ventilator settings. They also took him off sedation and pain medicine and gave him a gas to allow him to sleep and be comfortable, but also let him breath on his own. (The same gas as if you were going to have an operation).

When we left the hospital Saturday evening, it seems that it's working!! Wyatt
is breathing more on his own and they are going to try the clamp off this evening. We will call in the middle of the night to get the results. Wyatt looks great!! He is not swollen anymore and his features are so cute!! He has a really cute button nose.

His chest x-rays look good. He can open both eyes and loves to move his hands, arms, and legs, eventhough he is suppose to be resting!! He has less fluid each day
and it looks like he has a good size right lung and a little of the left lung. It's hard to tell how much left lung because the his intestines are in the way.

He appreciates all your prayers and thoughts. Keep them coming because it's working. Thank you for everything and I'll keep you updated.
Thanks,
Gina and Benji

Slow and Steady

Hello Everybody! Wyatt is progressing. His fluid level is looking good and the doctor said that slow and steady wins the race. Today, we had a minor set
back. Wyatt has blood in his stool and the doctors will not operate until it stops (they are thinking it is coming from the intestines). He is on medication
that clots blood so we are hoping this works. If you are praying for him, please pray that he continues to progress and NO blood in the stool!! He is in a very
critical time now and we appreciate all your thoughts and prayers.
thanks, gina

Pray for me...

Below is an e-mail my sister wrote at the beginning of Wyatt's journey...

Wyatt James Koger is strong, big, adorable and seemingly ready for the fight ahead of him. "A hole in my diaphragm?" the infant murmured to his mother, "Please, I can handle that." The infant even went as far as to send his mommy home from the hospital on Wedsnesday, just two days after his birth. Not before, however, giving her a bit of a scare.
An ECMO machine is similar to a heart and lung machine in that it provides cardiac and respiratory support. Blood is drained from the infant's body through tubes. The blood is then oxygenated and the carbon dioxide is removed. The blood is warmed and then returned to the body through more tubes. Essentially, the ECMO machine does the work for the heart and lungs, and gives the underdeveloped organs time to heal.

This machine is Wyatt's lifeline until surgery. Wyatt has Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, meaning that his diapragm was formed with a hole in it. His stomach and intestines are is in his chest cavity, not in his abdomen where they belong.Wyatt was on a breathing ventilator but his heart was not yet up to the challenge. He briefly went into cardiac arrest on Wedsnesday morning. Immediately, his heart was stabilized and he was put on the ECMO machine. The ECMO was operating at 100 percent, meaning Wyatt's organs had the day off and could completely relax. On Thursday, the doctor reduced it to 50 percent, and Friday to 40 percent.

Friday, he was slightly sedated, but the doctor pinched him and he opened his eyes. He even held our cousin, Christine's finger. It seems like everyone's thoughts and prayers are being answered.Gina and company are reading him stories, singing him songs, and giving him his fill of love. In three to ten days, it is hoped that the ECMO machine can be reduced and Wyatt can undergo surgery to put his organs back in place. After that, he is projected to stay in the NICU unit for about a month. He is blessed to have access to this machine (there are only three in Maryland), he is blessed to be born strong at 8lbs 2 oz, he is blessed to be beating the odds, and he is blessed to have such an optimistic mother that has been preparing him for the fight while he was inside of her. It's as though sometimes God rewards us by letting us see his work one small, slow-paced step at a time. It'll be a long road ahead, but Wyatt emailed me the other day telling me that he is confident that he will make it through. His P.S. was wondering if I could ask everyone I know to pray for him.

Here's Wyatt

We are proud to announce the birth of our second child, Wyatt James Koger born on October 9, 2007 at 4:46am, 8lbs 2 oz. Wyatt means brave, strong, and warhardy and he is showing us his strength everyday. He is so adorable and beautiful with dark curly hair and has similar features to Chloe.

A ssoon as Wyatt came out (easily), he was handed over to the NICU team and they inserted a breathing tube and feeding tube in his throat. It was a peaceful, quiet delivery. The room was silent and everyone was working together as a team helping Wyatt. Benji cut
the cord and then I was able to hold him for a few seconds. The best few seconds of my life!

Wyatt was originally placed in the NICU on a ventilator soon after his birth. The next day he was moved to Pediatric Intensive Care and placed on ECMO. ECMO is a lung/heart bypass machine. As they moved Wyatt from the ventilator to ECMO, he went into cardiac arrest and the surgeons administered CPR.

Strong Wyatt recovered quickly and was placed on ECMO. Johns Hopkins is the only hospital in Maryland with ECMO. They have three beds with ECMO and Wyatt got
the third one! An ECMO specialist maintains the machine 24 hours a day. She/he does not leave Wyatt’s bedside. Wyatt also has a nurse just for him that does not leave his bedside.

We are taking each day at a time. Surgery will not be scheduled until he is stabilized which may be in a few days or a week or two. I was discharged from the
hospital on Thursday. It was very hard to leave our baby alone in the hospital after being with him for the past 9 months. We have 24 hour visitation and visit him every day. He has a normal babyhood. We read his favorite books to him, sing to him, play him music, and touch him. I call often for updates and he is progressing.

If you are a religious person, Wyatt needs many prayers. We appreciate all your phone calls and support. Benji, Chloe, and I are VERY LUCKY to have such a wonderful support network. Our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and the hospital staff
are so wonderful and supportive. We have a beautiful baby boy and are surrounded by the caring people.

This counts as bedrest, right?

Wait, maybe this doesn't?