Roller Coaster Ride . . .

Okay, I'm probably not the right person to be writing this post due to my complete exhaustion but bear with me. Our roller coaster ride has taken a temporary down hill turn. Matthew started getting extremely irritable last night. I pulled his blanket down to find a terrible rash around his incision and all over his belly. He became very agitated and couldn't sleep. The Nurse Practitioner who worked last night determined it was a yeast infection but the cream she prescribed did nothing for the itching. He was up most of the night. He had these nasty night sweats and we changed his bedding twice. Finally, they gave him some Benadryl and he slept for 2 hours. He woke up at 4:30 screaming for me. I discovered that during his intense itching he pulled the surgical tape off his incision and had worked loose all of his dressings. There is concern that if he continues to scratch at it he will end up with a staph infection. We had that after his first surgery and don't want it again!!!! Thank God Dr. Geiss rounded early this morning. He confirmed it was a yeast infection resulting from a greenhouse effect. He has all of these bandages and tape all over his chest and belly which makes things moist and causes yeast to grow. He made the decision to pull his RA line and pacing wires. They will sedate him and Dr. Geiss will do this procedure. They have everything ready including a blood supply at 11:00 but Dr. Geiss has been held up so we are waiting.

I know his heart is strong so we have a lot to be thankful for but wow this is starting to wear us down. Our mental state isn't so great today. Sleeping for 2 hours and stressing all night just wears you down emotionally and mentally and physically. Taylor is starting to struggle at home and has said some pretty sad things. Craig needs to go back to work so he is dealing with all of this plus work. Please pray that getting everything off of him and the antibiotic will make him feel better and we start going back up hill. Also, pray that we bounce back emotionally. Your prayers have made a difference every time we post specific concerns so please keep praying!! We will update after the procedure is done.