Dawson Surgery Update

Well, Dawson is out of surgery. The surgery went really well and everything is in. Dr. Walker ended up doing the surgery. We are glad, we really like him. I should have known by the look on his face (in fact I think I did) that something went a little wrong. When they extubated Dawson he went into Respritory Arrest. Dr. Walker said "They must have called a code because there were about 80,000 people all in this little room. Well, maybe not 80,000 but it seemed like it."

I guess this is the part when being an EMT previously either comes in handy or causes you to be a little more scared about it, it is actually a little of both. I know exactly what happened to qualify it as respiritory arrest and what the implications are. It is not just that he stopped breathing or wouldn't breathe on his own. It is that his respiritory system kind of just shut down. His airway started to spasm and close. Luckily they were really quick with getting to him because once an airway is totally closed the only way they could have gotten to him is through a tracheotomy. The other scary part is that respiritory arrest and cardiac arrest almost go hand in hand. If one shuts down, the other quickly follows. Thank goodness that did not happen. They were able to quickly reintubate and secure an airway. Dr. Walker said that he would be fine and that he doesn't think that any damage was done to his brain because his heart didn't stop. He will be intubated until tomorrow most likely. The plan is to send us home on Thursday.

I am going to go sit with him for awhile then go to my moms. I am exhausted! I have slept 6 hours in the last 72 and I am not of much worth right now to Dawson. They will have him pretty sedated until tomorrow morning and I will be back her bright and early with plenty of rest. I am sure that he is pretty exhausted too. He has been through a lot today. I am going to head up there now so I can love him.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support.

Love, Amy