Day of Discovery

 Thursday September 5, 2013

Post from Jodie (Mom)

The day after Kollin’s breathing tube was put in was a pretty peaceful day.  They kept him sedated and he was able to get some much needed rest.  He did have One very special visitor that really lifted his spirits.  Susan Daynes, who is a friend of the Gaufin’s stopped by with her therapy dog, “DIVA”.  Diva is the cutest female yellow lab and has been specially trained to help kids work through therapy.  She jumped right up on a chair and we rolled the chair next to the bed.  Kollin immediately reached out his hand wanting to touch her.  Susan gave KPG small slices of carrots to feed her.  At first Susan would put the carrot slice in Kollin’s hand, but by the end he was grabbing it from her (impressive move).  This was the highlight of the day.  Thank You Cynthia Gaufin for making that happen and Thank You Diva!!!!!!!  We will see her again, since Susan volunteers in the Rehab unit.

That night Kollin began to have some problems breathing as they slowly backed off on his sedation drugs and he became more aware of the fact that he had a tube down his throat that was uncomfortable.  Or so we thought.  The entire night and ALL of yesterday his struggle for breath became progressively worse.  He would write on a white board things like, “I can’t breathe”, or “I need air”, or “Heavy”  to which we would ask, “Your chest feels heavy??” he would nod his head, Yes.  When Doctors heard this they would reply that his swelling in his spinal cord was most likely the cause. This is what we would expect to see.  That the swelling was now affecting the nerves that control the muscles between the ribs that aid in breathing.  This made sense to us, but did in NO way make us feel better as we stood by his side and watched him struggle for each and every breath all day long.  Our parental instincts kept telling us that something just wasn’t right.  HE kept telling us something wasn’t right.  I began to pray that God would send someone to us that could help us figure out what was wrong.  My pleadings were short, but frequent as Gary and I attended to Kollins needs. Eyes shut, eyes open, I prayed.  Just before 7:00pm they decided to do a cat scan on him because of something that showed up on an X-ray done earlier in the day.  A Hematoma (a pooling of blood) was seen in the Mediastinum- in the area above the heart.  They wanted to rule out any problems with the Aorta. Could this be what was causing so many breathing problems??   When we returned from doing the Cat Scan it was time for shift changes among the medical team taking care of Kollin.  A respiratory therapist named Troy would be our guy.  He walked in the room and took one look at Kollin and said, “that’s not normal breathing and we need to do something about it.”  The Attending doc, Dr. Poss agreed 100%.  Thus began the troubleshooting to check every possibility.  The respirator was changed out, Kollin was given Albuterol in case it could be an Asthma issue. I’s were dotted and T’s were crossed.  The results from the cat scan came back—Aorta intact and fine, but hematoma still there.  Nothing significant.  Still my prayers persisted. This time I knew we had the right people, but they needed help figuring things out.  “Please Heavenly Father help these men to know what to do to help my baby boy.”  I began to have a greater understanding of the pain that our God endured as he watched his son suffer on the cross.  How unbearable that must have been. Breathing struggles persisted.  Around midnight the attending doc came in to show us something that he had discovered on the Cat Scan that the radiologist had missed.  As Dr. Poss went over the scan with a fine tooth comb, slice by slice, he discovered that the hematoma was located behind the Trachea (or wind pipe) and that it was pushing on the trachea just below the level of the breathing tube, making the trachea about half it’s size in diameter.  So instead of breathing through a garden hose, it was like breathing through a straw for Kollin for over 24hrs.  Everything Kollin had been telling us was exactly true!!!!!!!  Our hearts have been so heavy over this discovery, but we are ever so Grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who is ALWAYS listening. We acknowledge His hand in ALL things.  Prayers were answered, MIRACLES abound, Kollin is Loved.  The Respiratory Therapist was able to advance the breathing tube lower in the trachea to expand the collapsed area.  Immediately his breathing changed and became normal.  It was decided that he would be put back on some meds to keep him relaxed and comfortable for the night.  It is currently Noon on Thursday Sept. 5th.  KPG slept peacefully and is comfortable and resting now.  Later today he will be going back to surgery where they will drain the hematoma and try to figure out where the bleeding came from in the first place.  Most likely it’s just a result of the fusion surgery.  We are hopeful that after this is resolved and healed, that the breathing tube will be able to come out.  Much Love to All of You that have kept Kollin and our family in your thoughts and prayers.  We FEEL it each and every day, and couldn’t do this without YOU!!!!!!!

Instagram Post from Gary (Dad) 

While Kollin was struggling to even breathe, he could see my heart was breaking, and wanted to comfort me with a long hug..........