WE ARE HOME!

The x-rays yesterday morning came back with a very slight space between the lungs and the chest wall. The space was much better than the x-ray the night before, so they told us that we could go home. After processing all the paperwork and packing up all of our stuff from our 4 day stay, we got home about 1:00 yesterday afternoon.  We were greeted by a very hi-screeching and whining toy Chihuahua that loves him dearly. Hunter then headed upstairs, took a shower, and took a 3 hour nap, with Chihuahua peacefully sleeping next to him!

Today, Hunter has been somewhat lethargic and tired, but seems to be making steady progress back to full strength. We can't say enough about the staff at Children's they did a wonderful job. We did not like that they used a new procedure on Hunter and could not find the right connection to hook it up to water suction. They said this was a new way to handle this situation so we are now calling it the, "The H2 Tube." We had an awesome nurse that not only took care of our son but quickly understood the Holt humor and honestly became like part of the family.

Many of you have asked why this happened and all we can say is that they don't even have an answer. It just happens in young, male, skinny athletes, they had three athletes in the ER the week before. They form what is called bleebs on their lungs and they burst and let air into the chest wall. This is what happened to Hunter on Monday, he got into the van and one of these bleebs ruptured.

There is a quick read if you'd like to know more that has been really helpful. It's called A Simple Guide to Pneumothorax, Diagnosis and Treatment
by Dr. Kenneth Kee

Thanks for all of your prayers and well wishes!

We ask for your continued prayers going forward as this is a condition that has a 20%
chance that it could happen again. 

We would like to take a second to thank all of you who have been praying. We believe it is because of those prayers being answered that Hunter is making progress.

Yesterday was full of "thank you God" moments. It started in the morning with his first x-ray that showed the lung had fully inflated. So at that time they unplugged the water suction unit, it was still attached to his chest tube as it served as a water seal. They then explained that we would wait for the next x-ray in the afternoon.

Throughout the morning he felt better, ate a good breakfast and lunch and was looking good. The afternoon x-ray went just as well and they decided to take out the chest tube. It was an uncomfortable procedure, but he handled it like a champ.  The next step was to wait for yet another x-ray in the evening, if that was clear we would be going home about 8:30. Throughout the rest of the day we watched Draft Day, dad slept! The nurse, she was awesome, came in several times and began to unhook all the unnecessary equipment and wires, all he has currently is his IV lead.

Yesterday evening they came in around 6:00 pm to take an x-ray and it seemed like they had immediate results. Two of the surgeons came in and were explaining to us the procedures of discharge and what to expect at home. Then... The results came back! Unfortunately, he still has a tiny sliver of air pocket remaining so they kept his one more night for observation. That pretty much popped our balloon, yet he

took it well and we walked down and got some dinner, that's him over on the left in the cafeteria. I guess that is a sign that he is feeling better, he's a teenage athletic boy... HE CAN EAT!

We awoke this morning, after a rough night of sleep on a very uncomfortable bed and Hunter getting  poked and prodded all night. I just can't figure out why they just don't let us sleep. The transport just arrived to take him for his x-ray, we will keep you updated and please keep the prayers coming.

On a lighter note, he has been having a competition to see if he could break his urine output of 510 cc's. We are happy to announce that this morning his output was 550 cc's! Hey... I told you he was a competitive athlete! KEEP PRAYING!