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It is now 48 hours after surgery and Jordan is making remarkable progress. He opened his eyes only 18 hours after surgery and began to move around a bit. The function of the new heart continues to improve as the hours go by. Today, Friday January 28th, they gave Jordan milk that Sadaf had been storing this past week though a feeding tube inserted down his nasal passage. Honestly, I never thought we would use the milk that Sadaf had been storing. This was a huge milestone for us.
They will try to ween Jordan of the ventilator within the next 24 hours, and then attempt to feed him by mouth. If they succeed in extubating him completely, they can move him to a crib instead of the adult size bed on which he currently rests. We hope this will be our next milestone.
We know that this will be a long recovery, and there will likely be bumps along the way. However, each time a doctor or nurse says he looks "normal," we rejoice. There are so many things we all take for granted. No one ever thinks about the job their heart is doing as they walk down the street and go about their daily lives - yet here we are in awe that our son has a functioning heart that can pump blood to the rest of his body.
Today we also got news that the wife of a good friend and colleague of mine gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who will have to undergo open-heart surgery on Monday. No one knows more than Sadaf and I what this family is going through - it was only a week ago that our Jordan underwent his first open-heart surgery. Please direct your thoughts and prayers to this little girl and her family - so far they have worked well for us.
It seems like an eternity since our plea to the public to help Jordan. We are so thankful to our family, friends, and complete strangers for the messages of love and support. We could not have gotten through this difficult time without them. We will continue to keep you updated as the days pass and, hopefully, Jordan begins his "normal" journey through life.
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