Not Just a Walk in the Park

So, instead of taking Zoe out for a morning walk in the park, we ended up in the Emergency Room. Before ya'll panic, everything is fine. Yesterday afternoon, Caleb and I assessed Zoe's surgical site. The day of her discharge, it appeared red which concerned us. The resident took a look and stated she "was not concerned." We were instructed to keep an eye on the site and call if we noticed any changes. And we did.

Caleb phoned the cardiology attending on-call and voiced our concerns over continuing redness and newly arriving pustules at the top of her previously healing scar. The cardiologist asked us to bring Zoe to CHOP's ER for a wound check. We hopped into a taxi (Zoe's second taxi ride) and returned to CHOP. I must admit, I felt a sense of PTSD upon walking through the double, sliding glass doors. Zoe, defined by ER staff as a "Spray cardiac baby", received preferential treatment. No waiting for Zoe. Nice, but also a stark reminder at the seriousness of her condition. We were whisked into a separate area, away from all the other babies and kids in the ER. Immediate vitals taken and a private room. Zoe was seen by 1 nurse and 2 doctors before the ER decided to call the cardiology group for their trained eye.

Cardiology believes Zoe's site is "irritated" and not infected. She has no fever, is eating well and acting herself. We felt relieved, but were again asked to keep an eye on the site. If we notice any changes we are to "come back." So far, so good. In fact, today the redness is down and looks as though it is trying to heal itself.

And then, just a few hours later, spotted on the corner of 18th and Walnut, a 7-pound warrior and her proud mommy.


We ventured out for a short 10-minute walk in the park - Rittenhouse Square. Zoe loves the outdoors and her eyes lit up while gazing up at the trees. We'll have to go on another park outing soon.



Although the fresh air is nice, most of my time is spent in the room, photographing beautiful Zoe.




Zoe has an appointment with the lab at CHOP tomorrow for blood tests. The test will check her clotting time to be sure her anti-coagulant injections remain at theraputic levels. Then, on Wednesday, another appointment with her CHOP cardiologist. Assuming all goes well, we will gather our things (which have muliplied over the last month-plus) and beeline to the airport (oxygen tank in hand). The Lihns plan to be back in Arizona, at home, on Thursday evening!

Alright, enough blogging for now. As you can see, I've been multi-tasking...


Mommy and Zoe logging off. Thanks for visiting us today.