All photos, wav files, and plaintext copy courtesy of Mikey's Dad.
Thanks, Rick!! ~smile~

May 27th, 2004 6:00pm ... Mikey is in Children's Hospital. This morning, Dr. Jonathan Drummond-Webb performed the open-heart surgery to replace Mikey's calcified and obstructed homograft. He replaced it with a "dacron tube" with a porcine (pig) valve on the end that enters his heart. One of Mikey's pacemakers stopped working, and they removed them both and replaced them with one new pacemaker, implanted in his abdomen. They have to split the sternum to get to his heart, then they wire it back together after the surgery. This afternoon, xrays showed that one of the wires had come loose, so they had to re-open his chest and re-attach the wire. He is still out, and of course, still on a ventilator.

May 28th, 2004 6:45am ... Mikey came off the ventilator last night, and he's watching cartoons from his bed in ICU.. we're thrilled!

God is good. Thank you, God!!

May 28th, 2004 10:30pm ... Mikey managed a smile through clenched teeth for this update. He got his NG (feeding tube) out today, along with a few other wires, then.. they sat him up in a chair for awhile. He needs to be up, so fluid can drain from the tubes in his chest, side, and stomache. And we read his "chapters" to him after he layed back down. Later, he got a visit from Miss Woods, one of his school teachers. He got nauseated when he tried to suck on a popsicle tonight, so we'll try again tomorrow. He MAY get his chest tube out tomorrow. He's doing real well, AND talking some. God is good.. Thank You, Lord!

May 29th, 2004 5:30am ... Mikey slept good.. had some pain and took some medicine with a few sips of apple juice at about 3:15am. The apple juice has stayed down for these few hours.

May 29th, 2004 11:00pm ... Mikey is sitting up in his chair in tonight's picture. Even with all those holes, and all that hardware, he manages to smile for the camera! Speaking of cameras, we almost lost ours today, as someone broke into our locker. Fortunately, we had just taken the camera out of the locker for a few minutes. Those pictures would not have been replaceable. Mikey is doing alright. He has had some bleeding around 2 of the 3 drainage tubes. He hasn't been able to keep anything down yet, but if he can get his chest tubes out tomorrow, he may still get to move to another room. He was moved today into a room that doesn't have a TV connection, so he can't watch cartoons :( Getting info from doctors at this hospital is difficult. They make the parents leave the ICU when they come to make their rounds! But.. Mikey looks good.. better every time we see him. We're looking forward to a better day yet, tomorrow. Thank You, Lord!

May 30th, 2004 6:00am ... Mikey had a few more stomach problems last night, and the saturation of oxygen in his bloodstream drops when he's laying down. He developed a skin problem called "subcutaneous eczema" amd took some pain medicine for that. There is no treatment for this condition, but it should resolve itself in time. He also has some unusual heart sounds this morning, but doctors are not real concerned at this time. They are still planning on removing some chest tubes today. We are still encouraged. God is good!

May 30th, 2004 3:30pm ... Click on the picture at left to hear Mikey's message for you. He is doing great! Not only did he get his chest tubes out, but he also got transferred to a private room. Now we can stay by his side, and he can get the Cartoon Channel and Disney (and dad can get FoxNews and use WebTV)! Mikey is getting better. He's standing, walking a little and trying to regain his strength. His xrays show that his lungs are a little cloudy, but if we can get him some exercise and clear his lungs before any pneumonia can derail him, he'll be fine in a few days. This is what we need to pray for, specifically: that Mikey will be able to keep food down without vomitting, aspirating or gettng any pneumonia.. NO FLUID BUILD UP, and Mikey will recover and be home in no time.

*** Click HERE for a special message from Mikey to his Divas!! ~smile~


May 31st, 2004 5:45am ... Mikey just got some arterial lines removed from his neck. They had been surgically implanted and had sutures to be removed, but Mikey was tough.. even though it was 5:30 in the morning! After sleeping in a chair last night, the only part of me that is working right this morning is my fingers! Mikey had an uneventful night, and he's rested and cheerful now.

May 31st, 2004 8:45am ... Up walking laps around the ward.. xrays clear, EKG good, oxygen saturation 98%.. we're talkin' early release kinda stuff. God is good!

Peg's comment: YES!!!!!!!!! Thank you, God, and GO, MIKEY!!! *VBS*

May 31st, 2004 1:45pm ... Did 12 laps earlier.. Just came back from doing 15 laps with no shortness of breath!

May 31st, 2004 8:45pm ... Mikey has been up since 5:30am, walked a total of 50 laps around the ward today, and he's still up.. watching the basketball game. He had a low grade fever of 100.1° this afternoon, and it's 100.2° tonight. This is not real uncommon after heart surgery, but it needs to be watched to be sure that he is not getting ill.