April - June 2003 Updates... June 30, 2003 Monday, Monday, Monday!!! Wow. Othello has been home from the transplant center for a week and two days now. We are so pleased to have him back home! This past year has been one of excruciating emotional pain, many hurdles, waiting games and lots of tears. Daddy and Mommy were reflecting last night. We watched as Othello flirted with the angels. It was heartbreaking. Luckily it was not devastating. Miraculously, Othello came through with a few bruises, scars, cuts and some "new guts." On his last appointment in Miami, the nurse coordinator said "He will be on the penicillin for about 10 years." That moment was the first glimmer of hope we had been given in regards to Othello living past a few years. He is so precious. He drools. He laughs just like his brother Sebastian. A deep down cackle almost! Next time I get them laughing, I'll try to records it and upload it here for you all to hear..... June 27, 2003 I am sure you all saw that yesterday the update was not here. The internet connection through the cable company was down. There was an outage. Sorry. Well, Othello is doing well. Today he is intrigued by BIG BIRD! He gets really excited and does not know which way to turn over. He smiles and laughs and makes funny noises. All his labs came back good. Everything looks a-okay so far. Hopefully he will keep up the trend!! Tuesday he has a scope and an appointment. This should be fun! He has never been to the GE lab at Baptist/Wolfson's, but that is where he is getting the procedure done. Hopefully he will fall asleep during the scope, like usual. June 28, 2003 Wow! What an interesting couple of days. Mommys car died on us...hopefully we can fix it. That is how Othello gets to and from dr appointments and such. The phone/internet has been going on the fritz. The cable man came to check it out and repair it. 4th of July is next week. We may take Othello out to see the "boom pows" as Sebastian calls them. We have not decided 100yet. It depends on if we can find a place not too crowded. Sebastian and Othello have been playing a lot. I am glad they are enjoying each others time. It is so nice to see both the boys together!!!!! June 24, 2003 WOW! 1 year and 1 day old!! That will show you Dr. M! Othello surpassed the surgeons expectations of a few months! YEAAAAA! Othello is doing great, a little cranky though. He has had some eventful past few days. Today we saw his favorite GI doctors! The looked at Othello and gave him some BIG smiles! Labs will be drawn tomorrow. He has been referred to speech, occupational and physical thereapy again. His scope will be on Tuesday of next week, as well as an abdominal ultrasound. (So they can have a base line!) He weighs a tad over 19 lbs; the scale there is different from the last one used. And little Otto-man is 68.5 c.m. long! Blood pressure, heart rate, temp all good. So far so good! Keep your fingers crossed!!! June 25, 2003 Othello is doing well. He is sceduled for his therapies now. Starting next week he will go to PT,OT, and ST (physical, occupational and speech). Also his doctor appointments and procedures are all set. Othello has a busy schedule! Nap time is great! Mommy and Daddy are able to put Othello is his own bed!!! He seems very content. He loves when daddy makes funny faces and plays with him. heheh.. Othello wants to send his hugs and kisses to everyone. And a special XOXOXOX for gramma and grandpa Smith!!! Othello was interviewe again today. Mommy messed up and sceduled it for a time when daddy could not be there. He had to sleep for work. Mommy should have rescheduled, but she wasn't thinking. She has interviewd before when daddy was with Othello. So, she did not think it would be a big deal. But, she hurt daddy's feelings, he really wanted to be there. He loves being with Othello, when Othello is on camera! BAD MOMMY!!!! June 23, 2003 HAPPY BIRTHDAY to OTHELLO!!! Today, Othello is ONE year old!! I wanted to take a moment to recap the last year. June 23, 2002 Othello was born with gastroschisis. He had his entire small intestine and most of his large intestine removed at 4 days old. Because of this, Othello was on TPN. TPN is nutrition given directly into the blood stream. It damages the liver. Months of medication, hospitalization and procedures were Othello’s life. His health was failing, his liver deteriorating. Time was running out! One April 9, Othello received a 5 organ transplant. He got a new liver, small intestine, pancreas, stomach and spleen. His angel was a 2 year old from Pennsylvania. In a time of grief and need, they gave Othello the chance to be here today with us! He is here; he is alive and happy celebrating his first birthday. Thank you to everyone!! Community, friends, family, doctors, and ESPECIALLY OTHELLO!! He hung in there through it all! Love and Kisses to Othello~ Happy Birthday Little Guy!!!! June 22, 2003 Good morning all! Guess who is home? No. No. Uh-uh. Yes, you guessed it! OTHELLO is home! Let me start with yesterday.... 6:30 a.m. Othello, Gramma and Grandpa Smith, and mommy woke up. They packed all Othello's and mommy’s things in the car and went to the airport. At 10, gramma and granpda set out for Jacksonville in the car. Mommy and Othello stayed at the airport to catch their plane. A little after 11, we board the plane. Then 15 minutes AFTER take off, the captain comes on the speaker and tells us the generator was lost and we would have to get back immediately to the closest airport. (Happened to be Miami) My stomach knotted and my heart raced. I was certain that Othello and I were not going to make it home after all. Luckily, that was not the plan set out for us. Othello and I decided to call Gramma and Granpa to come get us. They were only an hour and a half out of Miami. We came home by car instead. Cramped in the back seat with a lot of our things. Clothes, supplies, baby toys, you know things. But, we made it home. What an end to a rocky trip! But, we know the roller coaster ride is far from over. Tomorrow Othello turns 1tomorrow!!!! YEAAAAAA! June 18, 2003 Othello went to the Operating room this morning. The surgeons placed new mesh over his wound and replaced his g-j tube with a Mickey button. (Just a G-tube) Othello did really well and did not have to stay overnight in the hospital. YIPPIE! Friday he has a scope and a dermatology appointment. (He has a slight rash) That is all he has scheduled for this week. Well, that and discharge. As long as nothing unforeseen happen, we should be home this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed!!!! Othello is going to be home for his birthday!! June 23, Monday, Othello will turn one!!!!! ! June 17, 2003 Othello is doing well. All his labs are great. Liver functions are perfect, blood counts are good. Well, his platelets are on the high side. So, the Dr put him on penicillin (SP) to help control infections, etc. that are usually regulated by the spleen. Tomorrow (WED) Othello is going to the OR again. The surgeons will replace the mesh over his intestines and maybe close him again (if the skin will allow). As long as all goes well in the OR and nothing comes back fishy on his biopsies, we will be released home this weekend!! Just in time for the lil guys 1st birthday. FYI to all. I know that you all want to come see Othello. But, keep in mind we are limiting visitation for a while. He is immunosuppressed. That means, he cannot fight off infection and illness like everyone else. We are asking for no visitors at the house for a while. We will let everyone know when we will start letting visitors over again. For now though, we have to think of Othello's health! Please do not take offense, it is nothing against anyone. We just want to insure Othello will be well!! Jenn Friday June 13, 2003 Freaky Friday!!!! Okay, we are not superstitious. But, today was not that great of a Friday 13th. Othello and I woke at 6 a.m. We had to get more labs drawn at 8. Then at 9 he had to get stuck again to receive an infusion of zenopax. THEN the doctors came in and looked at Othello. They said he will go back to the Operating Room next Wednesday. They want to recover his intestines with mesh. (His skin and tissue has not formed over them yet. He has a big opening in the middle of his abdomen. In order to keep the organs safe, they place mesh over them.) Then, as if that was not enough, the dermatologist came in to check out his rash. He has splotchy redness all over. She took a sample of his skin. A gash out of the side of his little baby leg. Well, it was maybe a 1/16 of an inch in diameter. But, still a gash. Well, we will not be home in the beginning of the week next week. Hopefully the end of it?!! Who knows? We are going batty!! AKKK, we miss Daddy and Bastian! June 12, 2003 Yesterday Othello was scoped. The Dr. said all looked good. He did 3 biopsies and sent them to the lab. We should get the results today. Last night, Othello had a bad night. He did not go to sleep until midnight. He was fussy. =-( This a.m. we went to his follow up appointment. After we got there, Othello did not seem to be feeling well. He has a low grade temp of 99.0 and began to throw up. The dr. said it may be because of his prograf levels. (They seem to be giving him a high dose) As soon as the labs come back, they will know for sure. We have another appointment for Tuesday of next week. It appears that we may not be home in the beginning of the week. But, Othello does not seem to be feeling well, plus his wound is still open. So, if we have to stay a little while longer, I can handle that. I just hope nothing bad is happening. It is scary. Vomiting used to be an everyday thing for Othello. Now, it could indicate a number of things. But, I won't speculate. I'll wait for labs. More later... June 10, 2003 Today Othello went for a follow up visit at the clinic. Everything is still in working order. He has had no rejection so far. Hopefully tomorrow's scope will confirm he is still showing no signs of rejection. \Othello has been sleeping through the night now. He is finally off the schedule of a hospital. I hope it stays this way. He is also eating more by mouth. He is eating about 1/2 a jar of baby food at a time now. YEAAAAAH Othello. Othello now weighs 21 and a 1/2 pounds and is 27"long. He is getting to be a big boy. In two weeks he will be one! Can you believe it?!!!??? The days here are long. It has been storming too. Othello and I cannot wait to be home. In the comfort of our own beds, close to family and friends. The people down here are great...but, we are homesick!!! Hope to see you all soon!!! June 7, 2003 All went well the first night out of the hospital. Othello was happy, he giggled and played. There were times that he was not very pleased to be there. He did whine a few times throughout the night. There was an instance where some kid from down the hall pulled the fire alarm. It went off for about an hour at midnight. Othello slept right through it. Giving the meds was no problem. Daddy and I are pros at this. It was great having no central line to deal with!! We are concerned about his abdomen though. It still has not healed closed. The dr. has stitched him up a few times, only to have him pop stitches and open again. It should be okay, according to the doctors. We have a couple of appointments this upcoming week. Labs and such. I will ask then about homecoming. (I am sure the more I mention it, the sooner we will be home) Also, I talked to Sebastian today. He said that Othello wants a Bob the Builder birthday party. So, I am going to listen to big brother bastian! I am sure he understands baby talk better than I do. No, I have to find out where I can get a small sugar free bob the builder cake make for Othello. Yummy... I am sure he will just play in it though!! WOW June 23, it is soooo close. I cannot believe this past year! It seems like an eternity!!! More later. I have to go back to the room. (We can only hook up to the internet in the day room...So updates may not be daily, but I will try!!!) June 6, 2003 I never thought this day would come!! Today, Othello is being released from Jackson Memorial! We are going to be staying in Miami for a week or two. (Hopefully everything goes smooth and that does not change.) They just delivered his meds!!Oh my goodness! He has 7 meds he gets daily, 1 he gets 3 times a week, and two he gets twice a month and one he gets monthly. AKKKKK!! But, it is not that hard. The schedule is pretty straight forward (and not any before 8 a.m. or after midnight. Some of the daily meds are 3 and four times a day. So, I am going to have about a dozen timers set in the house, hehehe. But, it is all worth it! I have my lil punkin still! AND he is leaving the hospital today!!! I am excited and scared and happy and well a little bit of a lot of things. Daddy will be down here soon, Gramma Helen is here and they are going to help Othello and I move and get settled into the transplant house. I'll update soon. I am not sure if there are connections in the transplant house, so it may be a while... XOXOXOXOXOXOXO to everyone!! Jennifer June 5, 2003 Well, Dr. Kato has changed discharge plans on us. But, don't fret...They are trying to get things in order for us to go outpatient tomorrow! The meds and supplies have to get here first. Then we can go over a few things and leave. I have to be briefed on his meds, schedules, wound care, etc. All things I have been keeping track of all along. So, it should not be too difficult. Daddy is heading back down here for the weekend. Won't it be a surprise for him to see Othello already discharged?!!! (Well, unless he reads the website before coming.) Othello has taken to eating baby rice cereal. Not too watery though (he does not like it that way.) He despises peas and well carrots you can forget about too. Things seem to be going well. His wound is not totally healed, though. It may take a month or so. But, it is okay. At least he is not rejecting the organs (keep your fingers crossed). More later.... June 4, 2003 Well, today we have been making a list of supplies that Othello will need upon discharge. Barb gave the list a run down, said she would be ordering it as well as his oral medications. The things should be in Friday or Monday. As things stand right now, Othello will be discharged to outpatient in Miami. The doctors discontinued all his IV meds. They have also decided he will not need a central line!! YEAH! This is a blessing for many reasons. It was a magnet for infection. Luckily he did not have one while at home in his line...but, if we can eliminate one possible problem, we will! He is giggling, smiling and playing a whole lot. He is ready to go!!!! More later.... June 3, 2003 Okay, slight change in plans. Monday the 9th is the anticipated release date. Othello will be outpatient in Miami for a week or so. The coordinator says we are shooting for a father’s day release (well day after.) As long as things go a-okay we will be home in a couple short weeks. (Who am I kidding? These next two weeks are going to crawl!!!) Let's see...No more TPN! It is GONE!! HOOOORAY! Feeds are at 36ml/hour. In addition, Lil punkin is able to eat by mouth. He surprised the speech therapist today by eating. (That’s my boy, proving them all wrong.) Daddy is back at work. Gramma Helen has been staying with us for a few days. Daddy is coming back this weekend though! YEAAAAAAA! Sebastian (Big brother) is starting kindergarten this year. He said "I don't want to go to kindergarten. I am too stupid!" Keep in mind that Bastian is too smart for his own good. I am sure he will do just fine! June 2, 2003 Othello is doing well today. He has experienced no more breathing problems. He is tolerating feeds. No signs of rejection either. So far. The doctors said that we could begin to feed him by mouth. A teaspoon here a teaspoon there. The tube feeds have been increased. In addition, the TPN will be gone w/in the week. We are excited. As long as he continues on this path, things will be great. The doctor told us that he would be discharged to home next week. (As long as he still does well.) This came as a shock to us, because we thought it would be a few more weeks. Things are not ready at home yet!!! AKKKKKKK! But, it is okay, Daddy will get them ready. Well, I will update more later on. 6-2-03 p.m. The dr. came in and gave us more news. By weeks end, we will be released from the hospital. They want us to stay in Miami for about a week. Othello and I will hang around Miami for a week, we don't mind. (too much) During that time, we will have to come back to the clinics and let them make sure he is progressing a-okay!!! June 1, 2003 Othello is doing better today. His feeds have increased, again. The dr says in 2 days he will be on his max feeds and no hyper-al... NO TPN!!!!!! They have also dc'd the methadone. No more narcotics. His belly looks good and his spirits are high. The little monster also has eight teeth and likes to bite. In twenty-two days he will be one year old. For his birthday he asked for a visit from his brother. May 31, 2003 Last night, Othello gave me a scare. He began to desat late in the evening (about 11 p.m.) He turned blue and would not wake up. The nurses were in the room, luckily. One of the doctors from the PICU came over and decided to give him something to snap him out of it. They gave him nar-can. It counteracts narcotics. Since Othello had been receiving methadone to help wean him off a lot of other meds, this worked. He had a buildup of the narcotic in his system. Almost instantly he woke. He screamed, cried, thrashed around. But, he was awake. The doctors decreased his methadone and put a note not to give it unless he needs it. This cannot happen again. This has happened multiple times now. He needs off the narcotics for good! We are pushing for it, and have been. The weaning process has been too slow, and now they agree. Daddy, Gramma Helen, Gramma Teri and Granpa Charlie are on their way to see us for a few days...yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! More later. May 30, 2003 On May 28th, Othello was taken into the OR for cleaning of the wound and closure. His abdomen looks a lot better now!! The new news. His TPN has been reduced to 14 hours a day at 13ml/hour. His feeding was increased to 28ml/hour. In addition we can give him water by mouth. The doctors also prescribed Imodium. Next week we will begin talking about discharge. Hopefully we can come HOME soon. There is a small chance we will have to spend some outpatient time in Miami. But, with any luck we won’t. I am not sure I would like to spend too long down here, just he and I as outpatient. If we do have to stay down here, Othello will get to see a pretty beach though. Lots of sun block and a mask will be in order. I just want him to be able to see things. He was cooped up for so long. I have been asked about meds he is taking. I am currently compiling a list of his meds and there purpose to post of the site. I will be adding that soon. Also, check the FAQ page for changes. We will update more soon!!!! May 28, 2003 This morning at 8, Othello went back to the o.r. The doctors removed dead tissue and sewed Othello's abdomen closed. It went off without a hitch. He was able to come right back to his room. No PICU stop this go-round. Othello is tolerating his feeds well. He is on full strength pedivivanex. It is running at 25 ml an hour. His TPN is down to 10ml. by weeks end he should be free of TPN!!! His ostomy output is around 200. Under 200 is optimal, 200-400 in acceptable. He is also still receiving lasix, to make him urinate. His diapers are heavy! But, they are doing this to help balance out his fluids. Hopefully Othello will keep up the good work, and come home soon!!! May 27, 2003 Othello is doing better, day by day. Yesterday, Othello celebrated his daddy's birthday by sleeping in. (Such a thoughtful present) Tomorrow, Othello is scheduled to go back into the OR. The doctors are going to try and close him all the way. His abdomen has some necrotic skin, which is on the verge of falling off. So, the dr. is going to remove the dead tissue and suture Othello up. It should be about a 30 minute surgery. Othello is on "the floor" and we hope to be coming home sometime in June!! Cross your fingers!!! Update more later.... May 25, 2003 Othello has moved back to the floor. He has his own private room again. This means we are closer to home. Hopefully he continues on the same path. The fevers are spurratic. He had a line infection, the line was rewired. No rejection has happened (keep your fingers crossed). He is teething! Now he is up to 6 teeth. Thank you all for the help and support. The yard sale/ car wash was a success. The volunteers helped to generate over 800 on this sale. Keep your ears and eyes open, Othello's birthday party will be soon!!! May 23, 2003 Today Othello is 11 months old. Just one short month until the big 1!!! He is off the breathing machine; he has been for a few days. His stomach has been looking better and better as the days pass. Othello still spikes fevers on occasion. They have determined it is a line infection. Sometime today he will get a new line placed. He is now only on 7ml/ hour of TPN. Soon it will be off all the way! His feeds are now 3/4 strength pedi vivanex and 25 cc an hour! The most food he has ever had at one time!! He is making some nice progress. No rejection has been found either! So he is handling his "new guts" nicely, thus far. Thank you all for being patient. These updates are few and far between. But, please understand...Mommy and Daddy are very busy with Othello. He takes a lot of time. So we update when we can. We will let you know more as soon as we get a chance. May 14, 2003 Hello all! It has been quite a while since I have been able to update. Unfortunately, it has been a very stressful roller coaster on our end. Two Saturdays ago, Othello stopped breathing. He had been sleeping all day long and was heavily sedated. The doctors and nurses had to rush to reintubate him. He was back on the breathing machine, again! Over the next few days Othello was struggling. He did not look well. It was as if he had bathed in red powder; and his body was swelling. He was extubated, then reintubated within a few hours a few days after the reintubation. His horizontal abdominal sutures gave way and his belly ripped open. You could see his insides. The doctors quickly took him to the OR and sewed him up, completely. Almost immediately he looked better. His skin was going back to a "normal" color, the swelling was subsiding. Today he is back on feeds, still intubated and he is receiving a new central line. The one he has now has clotted off in one of the lumens. Right now he is in the PICU at Jackson. Hopefully he will get better soon. He is struggling to breath with all the new larger organs. But, for right now the machine is helping him out. We will update you all soon. Keep praying!!!! May 1, 2003 3 weeks ago Othello received his 5 organ transplant. That was a major milestone for him. Last night he leaped over another hurdle: Othello stayed in his own room for the first time since the transplant. Barb (the transplant coordinator) told us to get some rest a couple days ago. I am glad we listened. Last night was like a circus. His pumps went off every other hour. Med after med was administered, frequent vitals were taken, and no sleep was happening. Othello decided to continue having fevers! We placed many ice cold water drenched washcloths on his head, armpits and groin. (Oh yeah, he DID NOT like that one) Tylenol was given a few times to boot! Today Othello was scoped and a biopsy was taken. Dad was able to watch. He said it looked like sea creatures all swaying around. (Well not in those exact words) We are awaiting a CT scan of the abdomen and an ultrasound. All the labs look good; his chest x-ray indicated he needed more breathing treatments. Well, I hope you are all doing well. We are doing alright, and hope to be home in a month or so. -Jennifer April 30, 2003 Good news today. Othello has been moved out of the PICU and into the PTSU. The PTSU is just "the floor". He now has his own room (a rarity here apparently, private rooms are uncommon) His temperature is still dancing around the 100's. So, things have cooled down a bit, so to speak. Ativan, methadone as well as his anti rejection meds and his antibiotics are still on the menu. He is also receiving pedivivanex 1/2 strength for feeds. Othello seems to be tolerating the feeds. We have met a lot of nice people here, and many families who are going through the same things as we are. It is amazing to see how all the different families are coping. We wanted to send a message out to a family that we have met. Jessica and Caleb! We hope you made it hope safely. We also pray that Caleb will get his transplant soon! Talk to you all soon. We are in our own room now (Jessica, they gave Othello the room Caleb was in!!) So we will be able to update you more often. Jennifer April 27, 2003 Today I am giving you all a second hand update. This has been quite a shock to my system; I am back at home in Jacksonville for the weekend. I had to come spend time with Sebastian (Othello's big brother). I have not been away from Othello for more than a few hours, and never more than a short drive away. Now, I am a 6 hour drive from him. I needed to see Sebastian though. Othello's fever is slowly dissipating. It was 98.1 today. The transplant doctors think it is being caused by the liver healing. When they gave him the new liver, only 1/2 was transplanted into him and a little flap was left so that it could close itself. This is typical. A slight infection may also be present underneath his skin, though nothing has come back on the cultures or labs to indicate that. Again, this is something that occurs frequently. His liver enzymes and billyrubin are good. No rejection, as of yet. As for feeding he was given some pregestimil. He did not seem to handle it well; the doctors have decided to back down on the strength of the formula. This is normal in transplant patients as well. The new intestine is not absorbing anything yet, it is taking everything and expelling it as fast as it can. It will take a while for Othello's new guts to adjust after this trauma (transplant.) The doctors have discontinued the morphine. Now Othello just has ativan to help with the withdrawals from the sedatives he was on for so long. Daddy says that he is being grumpy! He does not want to be bothered. Wouldn't you be grumpy too if you had recently undergone a surgery that intensive??!!! Daddy is at the hospital with Othello now. This is the first time that he has spent just Daddy and Baby for more than a day. I am sure he is enjoying the bonding time. Well, I am heading back to Miami tomorrow. Yeah, 6 hour drive. It was worth it though, Sebastian and I had fun. April 25, 2003 Othello still has a fever. It reached 104.6 last night; the nurses had him on a cooling blanket, again. We hope that the fever will subside. The good news is: his white count is down. This means he is probably not having the fever because of any infection. That indicator, as well as the negatives from all the lab cultures indicates no infection. He also is not rejecting his new organs. All the biopsies and scopes look good. Please keep Othello in your prayers. Remember that the day to day can be a roller coaster. What we have to look at is the BIG picture. Othello has been given a second chance and we have to do everything we can to make sure he stays well and HAPPY! Thank you all again. Othello's mommy and daddy. April 23, 2003 Othello is no longer on oxygen! He does receive breathing treatments every 2 hours to help with the secretions in his lungs. Hopefully soon he will be out of the woods with his breathing. Keep in mind though that his new organs are compressing his lungs. Othello still has a fever that hangs around 102. Tylenol, cold washcloths, and a cooler blanket have been tried. Maybe soon the fever will subside?!! The cause of the fever has not been determined yet either. As for some more good news. Feeds were started today around noon. He is slowly getting sugar water via his g-j tube. Within the week it will be formula. (As long as he tolerates the feeds.) I was able to hold him today. He seemed to calm down when dad and I got to hold him. But, he is suffering withdrawals from some of the sedation medications. That will pass soon though. Hmmm.. And he has 3 new teeth. For a total of 5 teeth. The new teeth are the top front two and the one immediately to the left of the front top teeth. YEAAAAH Othello!!! We will let you all know how things are as soon as we can. Thanks for everything. Jennifer & Darin April 22, 2003 Othello was extubated this afternoon. He is still having a little difficulty breathing though. They may have to do another type of breathing assistance with him, or reintubate him if his blood gases do not lower. Also, he is urinating blood. We are not sure what it is from yet. We have asked the nurses and doctors and should know more soon. His fever is still up there. It went as high as 103. Cold washcloths and Tylenol are being used to help control it. Again, not too sure what is causing the fever. But, we have asked and labs are being done constantly. He did test positive for an infection in one of his lines, but they have since removed the line. As far as feeding goes: The doctors are still planning on introducing clear liquids this week. Hopefully as goes well. Right now, they are giving Othello Ativan to help calm him. He is suffering withdrawal from the meds they used to sedate him. He also is getting a slew of antibiotics, anti rejection, etc. etc. Thanks to all of you. We will let you know more ASAP. April 16, 2003 Othello went to surgery this past Monday to hook his intestines to one another, add a g-j tube and close him up. A G-J tube is a feeding/medication port in his stomach that also extends into his intestines. His small and large intestines were attached to each other and his abdomen was closed. Today, Wednesday, he had to be re-intubated. His lungs were not filling to capacity because of the tremendous pressure put on them by all the new organs. They are a bit large for his body, so it was to be expected that he would have some difficulties. Othello is also running a fever. The doctors will do some labs, possibly a scope also, to see what is going on. Hopefully there is not an infection. Here are a couple new pictures. =-) -Jennifer April 3, 2003 Othello had a pretty bad night last night. He was uncomfortable and in pain. He had to have two doses of morphine. Today, Othello is receiving blood and platelets. He is getting 2 units of blood and one of platelets. Hester Clark did a radio piece about organ and tissue donation, in it she mentioned Othello. The clear channel radio stations have been airing a commercial about our lil munchkin. Every bit of exposure helps. Maybe this is just what we need to find a donor!!!! I will update more later... Thank you all. April 2, 2003 Yesterday, Othello had an alright day. He did not require any transfusions or morphine to sleep last night. Today, Othello pulled his TPN line out of his Broviac and spewed blood all over his bed. I looked over at him and he was whimpering, lying in a puddle of bright red! I stayed calm (amazingly) found out the source and called the nurse. Lab tests were done and as of right now, Othello does not need blood. I am sure he will tomorrow though. Channel 4, WJXT, did a story on Othello and organ transplantation and its importance. Hester Clark and I were interviews by Joyce Morgan. It will air tonight at 5:30 p.m. Please keep in mind Othello needs his transplant soon. Please pass the word along!! He is O and needs a stomach, kidneys, small and large intestines and a liver..... Hopefully someone will give Othello a second chance soon. April 1, 2003 Somehow it does not seem appropriate to pull an April fool’s Day prank. So, I will refrain from doing so on this update. But, do not think it did not cross my mind. Seeing as how we are still "trapped" in this hospital room and being that our states of mind are, well let me say not up to par, I did consider it. But, on to the important things: Othello is still not doing well. Yesterday he was transfused again. This time he had platelets and red blood cells. His g-tube site still expelled lots of gas and drained a considerable amount of blood. The doctors are trying something new. It is gauze like material that absorbs the blood and then adheres to and becomes a part of the skin. We are hoping this works. This morning Othello vomited a few times; a touch of fresh blood was in it. Hopefully it does not happen again. Today is the day that his doctors in Miami will resubmit his information to UNOS. I am certain they will leave him a status 1, seeing as that he is worse now. Again, thank you all for your support!!! Please keep the prayers coming.