Post-Op Update

I was completely exhausted yesterday, so I never updated after the surgery.

 

The procedure started at 12:04, and the doctor came out to talk with us around 12:25.  I was shocked!  He said CJ did great.  There was no bone growth around the bar, and they were able to just straighten it a little and pull it out as planned.

 

We were able to go back to recovery once he woke up a little bit.  Sitting on the bed with him was his pectus bar!  Thankfully, they had cleaned it up really well for us!  It's narrower than we expected.  Here it is:

 

The recovery nurse gave him some apple juice and vanilla wafers.  He needed some food in his stomach before taking the oral pain medication.  He needed to have good pain management on the oral medication before we could be released.  We stayed in recovery until almost 2:30.  At that time, we were discharged and able to head home! 

 

CJ spent the rest of the day alternating between sleeping and eating.  I think he was making up for all the eating he couldn't do between midnight and after the surgery!  (He is a teenage boy, after all!)  We were told to avoid heavy/fried foods for a while until his digestive system was able to get the anesthesia completely out of its system, because it could have caused nausea.  Otherwise, there were no restrictions on his diet.

 

He had some pain and a little swelling at the left incision site, but they said to expect that. That was the side the stabilizer was on.  I don't know if that's why that side was more swollen & sore, or if maybe that was the side the bar was pulled out.  Overall, though, the pain meds were doing their job.

 

CJ slept through the night without needing additional pain meds.  He woke up around 9:45AM asking for some, though.  The incision sites look good.  He still has some swelling & tenderness on the left side, but it's nothing to worry about.

On the Mend!

CJ has had a couple of really good days!  He's been mostly pain-free & almost back to normal!

Tuesday had a slow start, but CJ ended up spending most of the afternoon at the neighborhood pool hanging out with his friends.  Obviously, he couldn't swim; his two incision sites are still open and draining, plus the PICC line prevents it.  But he was able to have fun being social.

Later, he went to his Taekwondo class.  Again, he didn't actually get to participate, but he was able to reconnect with his classmates & instructors and see what pattern they are currently learning.

We ended the day taking in a family movie.  He was starting to wear out by then, but we all figured he'd just be sitting at home, so why not enjoy a movie!  We had pain medication with us, but he never needed it.

(On a side note, we had the privilege of seeing an advanced screening of the movie "When the Game Stands Tall," a movie based on the true story of the longest winning streak in sports history...The De La Salle High School football team.  It was an AMAZING movie!  It's all about perseverance, teamwork, and overcoming adversity...and what's really important.  I think of it as "Rudy" meets "Remember the Titans."  Anyway, it comes out August 22, 2014...Go see it!)

CJ woke up once during the night needing some pain medication, but other than that, he slept through the night!

Yesterday, he again spent a lot of time hanging out with friends at the pool.  He only had some ibuprofen once!

Last night, he slept in his own bed for the first time in almost 2 weeks.  All of us were happy to have this small element of "normal" back.  He called for some pain medicine around 2:30AM, but other than that, he sleep well...and late!  He slept until almost 10:00AM!  Yes, things are getting back to normal!  LOL!

CJ's antibiotic infusions are going well.  Because he's been on so many antibiotics, we've added probiotics to his daily regiment.  We are giving him Life 5 probiotics by Young Living.  We are big believers in Young Living Essential Oils and the quality of their products.  We are also encouraging him to eat yogurt.

We have an appointment with the ID doctor on Friday.  CJ is feeling well enough that he's decided to go ahead and go to camp next week.  Since we knew he was going to be post-op, he signed up for fairly easy classes, so we don't have to worry about that.  My husband will be at camp, too, and he'll be able to monitor CJ and administer the IV antibiotics.  Of course, we've cleared this with his doctors!

Thanks for the continued prayers...they're working!

A Crazy Couple of Days

Friday night, CJ woke up once during the night, but was able to sleep through the rest of the night.  Shortly before 8:00AM, our surgeon's Fellow came by and looked at CJ's incisions.  He thought they looked good; he was happy with the draining and said there was no problem with going home.

A little later, Dr. Dassinger, our surgeon came by to check on us.  He reassured us that we had done everything right; there just isn't a way to know how or why we fell into the "lucky" 1% of Nuss Procedures that gets an infection.  He commented on how well CJ look.  We will keep our previously scheduled post-operative appointment next month.  Then, assuming everything is going well, we will see him at regular intervals that most pectus bar recipients do:  in 6 months, then in a year, then another...until the bar comes out. 

Our ID doctor will oversee the continued staph treatments.  We should see him later this week.

As is usually the case with hospital discharges, it was a matter of "hurry up and wait."  We finally got home around 11:00AM.  After getting CJ settled with some pain medication, I had to focus on a very busy day...my brother was getting married at 5:00PM!  (Yikes!)  And with the last 5 days spent in the hospital, nothing on my to do list got checked off!

At 12:30PM, the nurse for home health care came to go over all the paperwork and to show us how the IV medication will work.  It's actually a really neat set-up.  The PICC uses what's called an "elastomeric pump."  All I have to do is hook up the antibiotic, and it does the rest.  It pumps itself using positive pressure, so there's no equipment, electricity or batteries needed to work it, and it's really small and ambulatory.  Each pump, or AccuFlo Ball, is a single-use pre-measured dose of the medication.  It uses a one-way injection valve that just screws on, so there are no needles, and I don't have to worry about back-flow.  The injection rate is pre-determined, so I also don't have to deal with that.  It takes about 30 minutes for CJ's dose to infuse. 

It's a simple 5-step process:
1)  Sanitize the PICC injection valve with alcohol pad
2)  Push 5CCs of saline solution
3)  Attach AccuFlo Ball & start infusion
4)  Push 5CCs of saline solution
5)  Push 3CCs of heparin (a blood-thinner)
To make sure the correct order is remembered, the nurse told us to think of the acronym SASH:  Saline, AccuFlo, Saline, Heparin.  I forgot to mention the saline & heparin were in premeasured syringes that just connect to the injection valve, continuing to make this a very easy procedure.

About 1:30PM, CJ threw up.  At that point, he decided that he wouldn't be going to the wedding.  We were all sad about it, but we certainly understood.  The nurse helped us through CJ's first at-home dose of Ancef (the antibiotic).  Her visit was about two hours, which I didn't count on, so I was even more frantic when she left.

A dear friend came and stayed with CJ while the rest of us went to my brother's wedding.  I FaceTimed him when the ceremony started, so he was able to attend electronically...I love technology!

While I was at the reception, CJ called and asked that I come home.  He was hurting and just needing me.  When I got home, I gave CJ some pain medication. 

Around midnight, CJ let the pent-up frustrations of the last week out to me.  He was hurting and agitated.  "Why is this happening to me?"  The emotional release & agitation lasted an hour, until he fell asleep.  I assured him that while we don't know why it happened, we can trust that everything happens for a reason.  I reminded him of my favorite passage in the Bible, my life verse:  "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.  He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.  When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us."  (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, New Living Translation)  I told him that sometimes the only person that can truly connect with, reach, and comfort someone who's going through a bad situation is someone who's actually gone through it themselves.  Their experience lends credibility to what they're saying.  Instead of someone who just sympathizes, his experience will allow him to empathize with others.
 
After his emotional release, CJ had a great night's sleep.  Sunday was up and down with pain and nausea, but there were no major issues.  He didn't throw up again, so that's good.  By mid-afternoon, the past week caught up with me, and I had to lay down for a nap.  My nap lasted two-and-a-half hours!

Our first full day of IV antibiotics at home went well.  The process is so easy that CJ was able to do the infusion himself!  The IV antibiotic is given 3 times a day.  He's also taking an oral antibiotic for at least a couple of weeks that he takes twice a day.  He'll be on the IV for 4-6 weeks.

Monday, CJ was feeling really well.  He had a great attitude, he was joking around, and he was begging to get out of the house.  A nurse came by to draw blood for lab work and to change the dressings & injection valve.  This will be done each week.

He felt well enough to go to a going away party in the evening and then later to the grocery store.  Personally, I think he just wanted to ride one of those scooters at the store!  LOL

The night started well, but at midnight, he needed some pain medication.  At 2:00, he needed more.  I had been sleeping in my bed, but at that point, he asked me to stay with him.  He was really hurting in the lower rib area on his left side; the same pain he had complained about in the hospital.  He was agitated about the pain and lack of sleep.  He moaned a lot during the night, but never really woke up again. 

Overall, it appears we're on the mend and that things are looking up.

Almost Home - Friday Update

CJ & I both had a great night's sleep.  We slept through the night and only woke up when doctors started making their rounds.

The surgery team came by at 6:45AM.  The doctor wanted him eating more; he hasn't had much of an appetite.  CJ had been concerned about a "bubble" of puss that had developed on his right incision, but the doctor wasn't as concerned about it, because it was draining.

Between 7:00 & 11:00, CJ had a rough time.  His pain level went up again, and the pain returned before he could have more Oxycodone.  His left incision was hurting a lot.  (This is the side that had the I&D yesterday.)  His morale really dropped, he pain wasn't really being alleviated, and he was refusing to eat (even after getting him a milkshake at 9:00 in the morning).  He said it felt like someone was pressing on the upper left side of his chest and at the same time a had was reaching in trying to pull out the lower left ribs.  There was a weird pinching/tugging feeling.  Finally, a little before 11:00, CJ was able to get some Oxycodone and Motrin.

Dr. Dassinger, who performed the surgery, came in to check on CJ.  He said he wanted to make sure the pain was under control with oral meds before we leave.  He wasn't as concerned about the lack of appetite; he felt that would return as the infection and swelling go down.

By 11:30, the Oxycodone had kicked in, and CJ felt much better and wanted to get out of the room for a while.  We got a wheelchair and went outside to a park/playground area of the hospital, stopped into the gift shop and got some candy, and went to cafeteria for lunch, where CJ actually ate a little bit!

At 1:15PM, we had a bit of a treat!  CJ had asked a Child Life specialist named Emily (who happened to be the same lady that talked to us in pre-op) if there was any way he could go see the hospital's Angel One helicopter.  Emily was able to schedule a tour for us, and we got to go to the helipad on top of the hospital to see the helicopter.  It was definitely the highlight of CJ's day!  He even left with some goodies from the flight team.

At 1:45PM, CJ had a couple of friends came to visit.  He was still in good spirits.  While CJ was visiting with his friends, his dad & I visited with his nurse & discussed discharge.  There was no real medical reason for him to stay (no more fever, and doctors were confident of treatment plan), but CJ was so worried about pain management at home, that he really had a lot of anxiety & didn't want to leave.  We decided to wait a little while to see how CJ felt after his friends left.

We ended up needing to cut CJ's visit with his friends short.  His pain had gone up, and he was getting tired from all the activity.  At 3:30PM, he and I both went down for a nap.  We slept for an hour and a half!!

Around 5:00PM, we talked with the doctor and made the decision to stay another night for CJ's peace of mind and to make sure the pain management is well-controlled with only the oral medications we would have at home.  If all goes well, we will be discharged in the morning.

At 6:00PM, CJ at  2 slices of personal pizza and some tater tots.  Less than an hour later, he was nauseous.  We called for anti-nausea medicine.  In my opinion, the drawer that holds the anti-nausea medicine in a hospital should never be allowed to run out...telling a kid who's feeling nauseous that they have to wait for the pharmacy to send up more is just mean!  Thankfully, CJ was able to make it, and we didn't have any issues like last night.  An hour after requesting it, CJ finally got his Zofran!

At 10:00PM, CJ's pain level was an 8, so he got some oxycodone.  An hour later, it was still an 8, so he got some Motrin.  The pain was especially bad on the left side near the incision.  When I looked at it, I noticed some swelling near the sight; puss may be building again.  Ten minutes later, a writhing CJ said the pain was up to a 10 and told me to "get the pain out."

By midnight, CJ was feeling a very little relief.  His nurse offered Tylenol.  The pain level was still at 8, but at least it seemed to be getting a little better.

It's now 12:30AM, and CJ finally seems to be feeling better.  We're hoping he gets complete relief and we can have a good night.  Prayers appreciated and requested!

A Better Day - Thursday Update

Well, we had a good night, and both of us slept well. (I apparently slept too well, as CJ had to wake me up to tell me to stop snoring! LOL! In my defense, my sinuses are bugging me a little bit.)

At about 3:00AM, it was time for blood to be drawn for the lab, since it was the fourth dose of vancomycin again.  At 5:30, CJ got up to use the bathroom said he felt like there was a pinching/tugging at the left incision site, like clothes that got caught on the skin.  It wasn't really painful (pain level was about a 6), just uncomfortable.  His chief complaint was still the upper chest.
At 6: 45, Surgery made its rounds.  We told the doctor about the pain CJ had been experiencing on the left side and the red, swollen area around the incision site.  When he felt it, said he could feel puss under the skin.  He said as long as there is puss, there will be fevers, even on antibiotics, which answered my concerns from last night.  He was going to talk to our surgeon that did the procedure about what he wanted to do.  They may use warm compresses to pull puss to surface or may make a small incision to help it along.

A little later, the Infectious Diseases doctor came by and gave us some good news:  the cultures were growing, and they knew for sure the infection was staph aureus.  This is the most common species of staph and what they had been expecting to see.  They still didn't know the strain of the staph, whether it was MSSA or MRSA, but as soon as the cultures were big enough, they will run those tests.  I got the impression it would be Friday morning before we found that out.  (For more information on staph aureus, click here)

Mid-morning, his pain level went up to an 8, but he was still fever free.  He had another dose of vancomycin at 9:00, and his attitude & morale was much better than last night.

Around noon, the nurse came in and said we were changing from vancomycin to two different antibiotics.  This surprised me, because neither of the doctors that morning had mentioned changing anything.  Instead of vancomycin, CJ would be on Ancef (more info here) and Rifampin (more info here).  Since this was an unexpected change, I had the nurse page the ID doctor who ordered the change and ask to come explain it to me.  CJ was feeling a little nauseous, so he also asked for some anti-nausea meds.  When they checked his temperature, it was up a little to 100.8.

Thirty minutes later, the ID doc came by said cultures showed MSSA!!!  (As a reminder, that means the staph is NOT the resistant strain and is more easily treated!)  That was the reason he changed antibiotics.  He said he was hoping to get in to tell us before the new orders went through, but obviously, that didn't happen.  We were so thrilled about this news, it was hard to wait until the doctor left to proclaim it to the world!  We've had so many people praying for us, that we knew they would be rejoicing with us.

Over the next couple of hours, CJ had a rough time with pain.  He had very shallow breathing and sounded winded when he spoke.  He also started getting agitated again like last night.  The nurse took his temperature, and it was 100.5.  His pain level even got back up to 9.  It's so strange to see the change in CJ when his pain & fever start going up.  It's like Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.

Around 3:00, CJ was feeling much better and decided he wanted to go visit another patient we met our second night here.  This young man is 2 years older than CJ and had the Nuss Procedure earlier this week.  They clicked pretty quickly, and enjoyed sharing "war stories" of pain, recovery, and missing the "cereal bowls" in their chests!  We had a great time visiting and ended up spending a full hour in their room!  Both boys started getting tired at the same time, so we said goodbye and headed back to our room.

Just as we got to the elevator, the surgeon called my cell phone.  He was looking for us, because he wanted to do an "I & D" procedure on CJ.  "I & D" stands for "Incision & Drainage," and it meant they wanted to cut into the wound and drain the puss.  It's a simple procedure, and the doctor could do it bedside.  Instead of making an actual cut, he was going to stick a syringe into the area under wound and suck out the puss.  Obviously, CJ was very concerned about it hurting, but the doctor assured him he wouldn't feel it.  He first gave a shot of lidocaine around the area; anyone who's had to have lidocaine shots before dental work, will know how pleasant this experience is.  However, once the lidocaine took effect, everything was fine.  The doctor pulled out 3CCs of puss and sent it off to the lab for testing.  Our hope is that removing this puss will keep CJ from spiking a fever again.  If he doesn't spike a fever again, there's a possibility we could go home tomorrow.  If he does spike a fever, they may decide to put a drain in to help the infection drain out.

After the I&D, CJ's pain level was 7.  He just wanted to rest for a bit, so his dad & I went to have some dinner.  When he woke up, our old CJ was back.  He was pleasant, joking, and fever-free.  We were having such a good time that he actually ended up having to call for some pain medicine because he'd been laughing so hard!  (Coughing, laughing, hiccups, & sneezes still hurt.)  He actually commented on how much better he was feeling.

A little after 9:00, CJ noticed the right incision sight oozing. It had soaked through the gauze, so he requested a nurse to clean & rebandage it.  The nurse applied antibiotic ointment and a fresh bandage, but said we should wait until the surgeon came by in the morning to see what he wanted to do about getting the puss cleaned out.

At 10:15, CJ said he was feeling a little nauseous again, so we requested some Zofran.  Less than 30 minutes later, he vomited all over himself.  It happened so fast, he didn't even have time to tell me he was about to be sick.  Needless to say, we spent the next 10 minutes getting all of CJ's bandages, sheets, & clothes changed.

Once he got back into bed, CJ felt much better.  He went to sleep shortly after that and is so far sleeping well.  Our prayer is that we both have a good night again and that his pain & nausea are managed well.

As I mentioned, there is a chance we could go home tomorrow, and because of that, the hospital has already scheduled a home health service to come to our house & teach us how to use the PICC.  If we end up not going home, they will reschedule the service.  The "complication" is that the home health services rarely get new patients set up on weekends, so if we don't go home tomorrow, we're pretty much guaranteed a stay until at least Monday.

I'm heading to bed now and praying for another decent night's sleep.

Wednesday Update

CJ had a great night. Pretty much slept right through. I woke up every few minutes for about an hour until the nurses got one of his monitors reset. After that, I was able to have a good night's sleep as well! We've had a lot of information thrown at us today, so I'll try to be thorough.

It was a day of ups and downs.

Infectious Diseases doc came by in the morning & clarified some stuff.  Said the "gram test" from yesterday actually showed that there was a bacterial infection, but that they didn't really know for sure it was staph.  But it's consistent with staph, so that's why they were treating him with the vancomycin.  The cultures will confirm staph & what form it is.  The complication is that since CJ has been on antibiotics, the cultures may not grow at all.  When the ID doc was there, he said they hadn't started growing yet.  He was keeping his fingers crossed that they would.  The only other way to confirm staph is by doing a DNA test on the bacteria.  He requested that yesterday, but the lab didn't want do it because the sample came from a wound.  He's going to call and talk to them to try to get it done.  He did confirm that the infection had not entered the blood stream.  This is a HUGE praise! 

Because vancomycin is so strong, and because it can cause kidney problems, blood is taken ever 4 doses to monitor levels.  His fourth dose was a little before 9:00AM, so they had to stick CJ and pull some blood.  He was a little concerned to hear he was having some blood drawn, because of the trouble they'd had getting blood on Monday.  But he wasn't dehydrated anymore, so it was quick and painless for him.  They got it in one stick.  They also started giving him Zantac, because the vancomycin can cause heartburn.

They ordered a "PICC line" for CJ.  It's like another kind of IV that's higher on the arm and goes straight into a major vein.  PICC stands for "Peripherally Inserted Central Venous Catheter."  A PICC line is inserted into a vein in one of the arms and extends all the way through to a location near the heart. This is an area of high blood flow and allows better mixing of the IV medications.  With a PICC line, we will be able to continue the vancomycin at home.  The vancomycin  treatment will last 2-6 weeks, so the PICC line is a big deal.  We will give him the injections 3 times a day, & a home health care service will come by once a week to draw blood & change the dressings.

The PICC line is inserted by a radiologist using x-ray.   About 30 minutes before we went down to Radiology, one of the radiologists came by and put some numbing cream on CJ's arm.  We weren't allowed in the room for the procedure, because it's a sterile environment.  They use an ultrasound to guide the wire into the vein, then cut the line to the appropriate length (so each person's line is custom.)  Once the line is inserted, they confirm the placement with an x-ray.  The whole procedure took about 30 minutes.

Most of the afternoon was pretty uneventful.  CJ would napped a lot from the Benadryl.  He continued his breathing therapy every two hours.  Pain levels were consistently 5-6 .

CJ's temperature was up a little bit later in the afternoon, but everything else was fine.  Then, at 5:30, his pain level really started to go up.  He was complaining about pain in his upper left chest and didn't want to move his left arm at all.  We needed to change his shirt, because 1) he was in the same shirt he wore to the hospital, and 2) it had puss that had drained from his incision.  Since he was hurting so much, we decided to wait until they switched the IV drip to the PICC.

By 6:08PM, CJ was really agitated.  He felt warmer, so I requested temp taken.  His primary complaint was still his upper left chest.  He complained of difficulty breathing & asked for oxygen, even though his O2 level was 96% & his heart rate was 118 bpm.  When they took his temperature, he had a fever of 102.9!  His pain level was up to a 9.  He was in so much pain, that he actually told the nurse to cut his new shirt (that he loved) to keep from having to raise his arm.  When we got his shirt off, I noticed the left incision site was red & swollen.  It wasn't open, but it sure looked like it was infected underneath.  I can't put into words how miserable he was...this was not my CJ.

Almost an hour later, he was still hurting a lot.  The nurse sent a request to the doctor for additional pain medication, and finally, at 7:30, CJ got some morphine.  When they took his temperature again around 8:00, it was back to normal.

Seeing him in the state he was in completely wiped me out.  He was so miserable, and there wasn't a thing I could do to help.  I actually had to leave the room for a few minutes while the nurses worked with him to weigh him and help him to the bathroom.  My biggest concern was the fact that he spiked such a high fever when he'd been on IV antibiotics for 3 days.  It just didn't make sense to me.  It really had me worried.

I was glad that CJ got some relief and was starting to return to his normal self by the end of the evening.   He and I both needed a good night's sleep.

An Overdue Update Through Discharge

I apologize for not posting an update in over a week.  Naturally, things have been a little nutty, and I've just been too tired to think straight enough to post.

As I've been thinking of where to start, a quote from a favorite movie kept coming to mind:  Let me explain.  No, there is too much.  Let me sum up.  (The Princess Bride)  LOL!

First of all, let me say CJ is doing really well!  He is recovering at home now and is quite frankly surprising many with his rapid recovery!

Our second night in the hospital was another long night.  CJ had not urinated since the catheter was removed the day of the surgery.  He had been asked to try to go, but he hadn't been able to.  This can happen as a result of the pain meds and isn't really unusual.

At 1:30AM, the nurse woke us up, because the surgery team told our nurse that CJ must urinate. He got out of bed to try but couldn't.  CJ was very agitated; which was understandable considering it was the middle of the night, & he was hurting.  He said he felt like he needed to go but couldn't.  He said his pain level was at 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.  Surgery ordered a bladder scan to see how much urine was in the bladder.  The scanner read almost 1000cc (1cc = ml, so we're talking a liter!).  Surgery ordered a catheter to empty the bladder.  CJ got very upset & asked for more time.  He really did not want a catheter again (understandably).  He requested some more pain meds & something for his stuffy nose.  By 2:20AM, still no urination.  CJ was given some pain medicine.  I spoke to the nurse & requested some Valium for CJ to calm him, hoping relaxing would release urine.  After the valium was administered, the nurse gave CJ another 15 minutes to try before she had to give the catheter.  Unfortunately, we never saw any progress, so at 2:45AM the nurse administered a catheter to drain the bladder.  By the time it was done, 1100ccs of urine had been drained!  Even the nurses couldn't believe he was holding that much.  Naturally, CJ felt and looked a lot better!  We were finally able to go back to sleep.

During the day (Thursday, 2 days post op), CJ continued to do well.  He was getting up fairly easily, able to walk around without too much difficulty, eating and keeping it down, pain management was well-controlled...The doctors were even talking about sending us home the next day!

Later in the day, CJ had to be threatened with another catheter but ended up not needing it.  We had quite a few visitors that day, which really wore CJ out.  Between the pain meds and the lack of sleep the past 2 nights, our hospitality was starting to fade.  Thankfully, our friends are understanding.

Friday was a little harder for us.  We finally had a good night last night, but CJ was really struggling more with pain.  They moved him off the IV pain meds to orals, and he was dealing with a little more pain as a result.  He went for a post-operative x-ray to check the bar placement, and the side view required CJ to raise his arms.  This really bumped the pain level up.  They said he would probably be able to go home later in the day.  However, CJ was really uncomfortable going home before he knew the pain was well-controlled (especially at night) with the oral pain meds.

Since he was dealing with more pain after the x-rays (which looked great, by the way), and because he was so nervous about leaving yet, the doctors agreed that CJ should stay one more night to make sure the oral pain meds were balanced and working.

He did pretty good Friday night, and around 11:30AM on Saturday morning, CJ was discharged!  We were all very happy to be heading home.  I could definitely tell he was feeling better when CJ opened one of his balloons, sucked in the helium, and started yelling at me from the other room!  LOL!