Let's vacuum this wound clean!

Jadon's fevers worsened and he was looking more lethargic clinically.  Late yesterday afternoon, after being suctioned, a bubble of pus came up out of his chest wound.  The nurse and nurse practitioner were concerned and they called the cardio-vascular surgeons who came and had a look.  They were concerned about a pus-filled abscess and so ordered another chest CT to see what exactly the issue was.  After the chest CT this morning, it was determined that Jadon did have a pocket of pus but that it was likely above the sternum, not below.  They have decided to continue with the antibiotics.  They also cleaned out the wound and put Jadon on a suction bandage:
literally a sponge taped over the wound, attached to a tube which leads to a 'vacuum'.  This applies constant low-level suction to the wound to try and make sure that all of the pus gets cleaned out.  He will likely be on this for several days.

Other than that, Jadon's sedation is continuously being weaned, and his breathing is doing well.  The radiologists and cardiac surgeons commented that the chest CT showed that the heart and the lungs were both looking better than they had in the previous CT, which is good news.  Ultimately it seems that Jadon's two biggest problems: heart and lungs, are doing relatively well.  The challenge now is to get him healthy enough, and eating and drinking enough to get him home!

Jadon a few days ago, looking great in a shirt!  This is before the chest wound opened up.

On another note, Logan is doing much better.  The shingle pain is basically gone now, though he still has significant itchiness on the one hand.

The months of February and March sure have flown by.  I wonder why? :-)