Sunday, October 31, 2010

Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010 - Happy Halloween!


I got my breathing tube out this morning which I am sooo happy about! My mom and dad are so happy to be able to see my whole face again! I am still pretty cranky today after a pretty fussy Saturday afternoon, evening and early Sunday. I haven't gotten too much sleep because I'm feeling pretty uncomfortable but none of us are exactly sure why. Mom and dad think I might have a little gas because they started giving me milk again through my feeding tube, but I am also trying to adjust to being off my strong pain meds! I am still getting a little morphine to help, but the doctors say it is important to wean me off all of these medications so I am doing the best I can! I did find out that I love my pacifier as mom predicted! I sucked on that earlier and fell right to sleep, so mom and dad are hoping that helps me relax, too. I don't have a costume this year because Iron Man doesn't come in my size but I do have some cute onesies and of course my pumpkin hats!
*I want to thank my awesome friend Jessica for making my blog look so nice - she did a great job!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

My room in the CICU

Here are some pictures of my room!












Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010

Good morning! It looks like a really pretty day outside my window but I am snoozing in my crib with my dalmation lovie right now. It's already been a pretty eventful day for me - I got started on some new medicine to reduce the swelling in my trachea so I can get my breathing tube out tomorrow (yay!) and Dr. Huddleston came in and removed my chest tube (another yay - I hated when they stripped that thing!). Last night, I got pretty cranky so I got a little extra dose of my pain meds and I am feeling much better. I am still off the milk until Dr. Larson decides my tummy and intestines are ready to handle it. For now, everyone is waiting for me to poop to make sure everything looks "clean" before they try some more feedings. I am having visitors again, which I love, and I am trying my best to open my eyes for a little bit while people are here. Everyone says I am a real cutie, even with the crazy haircut I got when they were trying to get some picc lines in my head last week. My mom, dad and I are ready for another quiet day while I rest up and continue to get better!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Friday Oct. 29, 2010

Today is Halloween at the hospital and lots of employees have dressed up for the occasion. My mom and dad decided that they should dress me up as much as they could so I am wearing my new pumpkin hat and Halloween socks! My friend Melanie knit me a beautiful pumpkin hat (see below) but I am waiting to wear it once I have all these sensors off my head!
I had a pretty good day yesterday and got lots of sleep. Last night I had another little blood pressure episode but once I got some more blood, I was feeling much better! They also started giving me some milk again through a feeding tube but wanted to do it very slowly because of the problems I had with my abdomen before surgery. Right now I am taking a little break from the milk to see how my stomach handles it. The doctors also started reducing my sedation meds so I am much more awake this morning! I have been staring at my overhead heater and my giant spider balloon that mom and dad got me yesterday. They are also slowly backing me off my ventilator support to get me ready to take this darn breathing tube out. I been sucking on my breathing tube quite a bit so I am hoping that mom and dad give me a pacifier once this thing is out of my mouth!
Dr. Canter came in to talk to us this morning and said I was doing really well! He said that with all of the issues I had before my surgery, he and Dr. Huddleston have been pleasantly surprised with how good everything has gone so far, or "better than they expected" as he put it - so I'm really happy about that! I know my mom and dad expected me to do well from the start so that is no surprise to them!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010


Yesterday afternoon I had my chest sutured up by Dr. Huddleston. I did really well but later in the evening my blood pressure fell a little bit so I got some more meds added and a nice blood transfusion - mom called me her little vampire but I think it was a really bad joke :) After all that excitement, I had a nice quiet evening and slept a bunch. This morning I was taken off my paralytic meds again and I started waking up pretty quickly. I also had some special visitors, which I love! Akshay came by again to see me and to talk to my mom and dad about my progress. He said all the nurses at MoBap were thinking about me and wanted him to report on how I've been doing. Mom and dad told him how strong I am and how well I've been recovering and it sounds like they are all very proud of me! Akshay said they've also been sharing my story with some new moms at the hospital to make sure they take the full time in the hospital after they deliver their new little babies. No need to rush out of there just in case something is not quite right - just look how lucky I was!
My pediatrician, Dr. Kreusser also came by to see me this morning. I decided to open my eyes up wide to see what all the noise was about and she got to see my big baby blues! Once I'm out of here I know she's going to be a great doctor for me, along with all the other doctors at Children's that I'll be visiting quite a bit.
So for the rest of the day I am going to try to rest up and keep healing while my mom and dad hang out by my side.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Visits...


While we would love for everyone to meet Will, we would like to limit visitors due to his delicate health. So please contact me or Chris before coming to the hospital. We would really prefer to save visits for when Will is healthier and setting a time up with me or Chris beforehand will be the best for Will when the time is right. Thank you for understanding!
*P.S. I love my blankie from Sarah, Dan, Joseph and Lennon!

Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010 - Halloween Costume Idea


My buddy Aidan thought I might want to be Iron Man for Halloween this year and I think that's a great idea! I might have to wait to celebrate a little later this year but I think I'd make a great Iron Man! Hopefully my mom and dad can find a costume in my size.

Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010

I'm doing well today after a pretty restful Tuesday day and night! I did have to get my breathing tube moved a little this morning and I let my nurse Angie know that I was not happy about that at all! I also got some visits last night from my nurse friend Andrea and from Thanda who was on the Transport Team that drove me from MoBap to Children's on Oct. 7th. I am so thankful for the wonderful job the Transport Team did that day and I know they all played a huge part in helping me get to where I am today!
Yesterday, Dr. Huddleston told my mom and dad that he will be closing up my chest this afternoon so I think that means my swelling is going down. I am a little scared but I know the nurses will give me a little something extra so that I don't feel a thing! I am still a little puffy so I am doing my best to go to the bathroom and get all those extra fluids out of my system. I think things are going pretty well so far and I want to thank all of my awesome family and friends again for saying so many prayers for me - they are definitely working! Other than that, I am just going to continue to sleep while mom and dad sit by my side:)

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010 - Three Weeks Old!


Morning! Today I am 3 weeks old and I have one major heart surgery under my belt already! I had a good night and got some extra sedation to keep me comfortable. I went off my paralytic medication this morning and have been able to move just a little bit and open my eyes. My mom and dad want me to rest as much as possible and stay calm and comfortable while my chest is still open. The doctors will decide to close me up either Wed. or Thurs. depending on how things go and Dr. Huddleston will be able to do that while I stay in bed which is nice. I am going to rest now!
Love,
Will

Monday, October 25, 2010

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010 10:00pm


Hi everyone,
Will's surgery went very well! According to the surgeon, Dr. Huddleston, there were no surprises with the operation, so that's great news! Chris and I got back to Will's room to see him around 9:30pm and he will remain paralyzed and sedated for the next few days because they actually leave the chest open (but covered with sterile material) to allow for the swelling of the heart to decrease. The next 48 to 72 hours will be critical, but so far so good. We are praying that there will be no complications with his recovery and that he will continue to improve every day. Thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers! We know that they are making a huge impact on how well Will is doing in combination with the amazingly skilled and caring team at Children's.
Love,
Katie and Chris

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010 - Surgery Day!


Today is the big day when I am going to have my first heart surgery! I am a little nervous but I know that I am in the best place I could be here at Children's with Dr. Huddleston and the rest of the wonderful doctors and nurses! This morning on rounds, they all said that I looked good and am ready to go. My mom and dad have been here with me all day and will be waiting for me when I am done. They told me they are going to be spending the next several days and nights by my side while I recover and I am happy that they will be there even though I probably won't remember any of this. The surgery, which is called the Norwood Procedure with Sano Modification, will take around 5 hours with about and hour before and after for preparation. My mom and dad will update everyone once my surgery is done and they can see me back in my room. I will need lots of rest the first several days so that I can heal and start my recovery. This is the most major of the 3 surgeries I will have, so once I get through this, it will be a piece of cake from then on! My mom and dad and I are all so excited to go home once I have recovered but it could take about 2 - 3 more weeks. I know it will be worth the wait once I am home with them and can start doing all the wonderful baby things that I want to do! I want to thank all of my wonderful family, friends and neighbors that have sent thoughts and prayers my way. I am a very lucky little boy to have so many people that care about me and I can't wait to meet you all and thank you one day soon. I know that God is taking care of me and will see me through this!
Love,
Will
*P.S. I will be 3 weeks old tomorrow - I can't wait!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010


Today my dad met with Dr. Huddleston, who told us that my first heart surgery would be this Monday afternoon. While this was very exciting news, it was also scary at the same time. I know that I am in the best possible hands with Dr. Huddleston and the other doctors and nurses at Children's so I told my mom and dad that they didn't need to worry. They are going to meet with him again tomorrow to get some more details on what will happen and what to expect during and after my operation.
Mom, Dad and I are so happy to be taking this one big step closer to the day when I get to go home! The surgery will be around 5 hours long and I know that all of my friends and family will be praying for me during this time and also during my recovery. My mom and dad said I probably won't be allowed any visitors for several days in my room becuase I will need a quiet, safe place to recover. I will probably be in the hospital about 2 to 3 more weeks following the surgery to make sure I am 100% ready to go home and start my new life with my mom and dad and dog, Shelly! They have told me to get my rest the next couple of days so I am nice and strong for my big operation and I am doing my best to listen to them - but I think mom and dad really like when I open my eyes to look at them :)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010


Today I got to enjoy some cuddle time with mom and dad! This is the first time they've been able to "hold" me since I got to Children's hospital on Oct. 7th. We all loved it a lot and I know we all can't wait until I can be held and cuddled all the time!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Monday, Oct.18, 2010 - Baptism day

Today was a very special day for me because I was baptized in the hospital this evening! My mom and dad arranged everything with Father George from Children's and all of my mom and dad's family were able to be there to celebrate with me! My Godmother is my Aunt Lizzie and my Godfather is my Uncle Brent - they are both very important people to me , along with the rest of my family who were there to share in my wonderful day!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Friday, Oct. 15, 2010

Well, Friday was a pretty rough day for me. I guess you have to take the good days with the bad, though :) After getting milk from yesterday, I had a little blood show up in my diaper so they stopped giving it to me right away. Apparently my little intestines weren't quite ready to start digesting food, so they decided to give me a rest. Because my heart is not normal, some of my other organs are not getting as much blood flow and oxygen as a normal baby's would so it was too much for them to start getting milk. My blood pressure also started dropping a lot that day - I was not really tolerating my head moves or care from the doctors and nurses and therapists so I got really upset. I ended up getting a blood transfusion and some blood volumizers throughout the day to get my bloood pressure up and it was pretty scary. There was also a leak in one of my new lines so some of my medication didn't get to me for a few minutes but once that was fixed, I felt much better. I did finally decide to show mom and dad my beautiful baby blues again today, though! They were so happy to see my eyes after such a long and stressful day! I also got a visit from Grandma Pattie who brought me an Elmo balloon!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010

Today I got to listen to rounds again and found out they are removing my catheter which I am very happy about :) I am going to be getting blood cultures to check on my infection and the doctors say I am trying to breathe a lot on my on again, which is great. I saw Catherine from Occupational Therapy today and I also got the news that I would be moving up to the Cardiac ICU today from Dr. Simpson and Dr. Cantor! I moved up there around 1:00pm and got settled in my new room with a great view of downtown. Mom and dad said I earned a great view and they think I'm a pretty lucky dude!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010


I turned one week old today!!! My mom and dad got me a balloon and made me a little sign to celebrate this big day! My Aunt Lizzie's friend Jenny Marsh, who is a nurse on the 7th floor, came by and said hello! I also got a massage from the Physical Therapist, Sandy, and she showed mom and dad how to move my legs and arms and stroke my head to get my blood flowing! I was doing pretty well but I still didn't feel like moving much because of all of the swelling I still had. That day daddy's friends John and Dan came by and brought mom and dad lunch and got to meet me! They are pretty cool guys and I can't wait to hang out with them and their little kids once I get out of here!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Monday, Oct. 11, 2010


On Monday morning, mom and dad were there for rounds again. The doctors decided to take me off of the paralytic medicine yesterday so that I could start moving around again, but they said it would take some time before I was able to do much because it takes a while to wear off and I was also pretty swollen from all the fluids I was getting. My special friend Sydney stopped by from upstairs and so did my buddy Kathleen - it is really nice to see some familiar faces in the hospital! Around 6:30pm or so I started to wiggle my fingers and toes just a little bit, which mom and dad were really excited to see. One of the transport team members stopped by to say hi to me and I got visits from Grandpa Tom, Grandpa Jerry, Grandma Karen and Aunt Melissa. My mom and dad went home to sleep that night and got a call around midnight from Dr. Criscola who said it looked like I had developed an infection because of my breathing tube so they were starting me on antibiotics to clear that up. Apparently it is pretty common for this to happen so once the antibiotics do their job, I will be just fine.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010

Mom and dad spent the night again at the hospital and were there for morning rounds. I had improved a bit from the day before (yay!) but I was still on all my machines and medications. My nurse was Mary Ann again and I was very happy to see her.My vital signs were all improving but I did not like it when my head was turned or I was moved too much! We also had visits from Andrea who is a nurse at Children's that works upstairs, and a friend of Mommy's coworker who is a fellow in the NICU, Dr. Phil, came to say hi to us as well. Uncle Tom and Aunt Erin came by to see me in the morning and told me that my cousin Bea couldn't wait to meet me and they brought me a picture of her as an astronaut! Aunt Liz came to say hi and met us for lunch and Grandpa Tom, Aunt Liz, Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Karen came to see me later.

First Email Updates

Oct. 8, 2010
Hi Everyone-

I’m writing on behalf of Katie and Chris and their new son William (Will). As they were leaving the hospital to go home yesterday afternoon, the discharging nurse noticed he wasn’t looking well. After a lengthy examination at Missouri Baptist (where he was delivered), he was transferred down to Children’s Hospital and examined further. The doctors confirmed that Will was born with a serious heart defect which is going to require long term treatment and care. Katie and Chris are doing ok but they would like to ask that you keep Will in your thoughts and prayers while he is being treated at Children’s. We will provide updates as they are given.

Thank you in advance for your support! I know Katie and Chris greatly appreciate it.

Sincerely, Liz (Will’s Aunt J)




Oct. 9, 2010




Hi all,Chris and I wanted to provide a quick update on Will. He has madeincredibly positive progress in his recovery from yesterday andalthough he is not completely stable yet, we are amazed at theimprovement he's shown so far, this is in terms of his recoveryassociated with the complications that began yesterday afternoon as aresult of his heart defect. Today we were informed that once he isstable, the next step is heart surgery which is most likely to happenat the end of next week if he continues improve. To let you knowexactly what is going on, his condition is called hypoplastic leftheart syndrome and there are actually a series of 3 heart surgeriesthat they will use to correct this. If you google it you can find somereally good information that will explain the defect and these 3surgeries that are most commonly used to correct it - beginning withthe Norwood procedure which may happen late next week.We most of all want to thank you for all of your prayers for littleWilliam and ask that you continue to pray for him through the days,weeks and months to come. Chris and I are are so thankful for theamazing support of our friends and family and even though we may nothave gotten to respond to all of you calls and emails, we arestrengthened by the knowledge that Will has so many prayers andthoughts coming his way. We have every confidence that the team hereat Childrens Hospital are giving him the best care he could possiblyreceive and we are truly confident that he will make a full recovery.There is still a long road ahead for our little guy and we will befighting alongside him every step of the way. It was truly divineintervention that the course of events went the way that they did onThursday and he has some amazing guardian angels at Missouri Baptistthat are responsible for saving Will's life. He is an amazing littleboy and we assure you that you will all get to meet him very soon!Thank you again!


Love,


Katie, Chris and William Saykes




Oct. 12, 2010




Hi All,


First i apologize if you got a weird email/text(s) from me today - myphone is not really cooperating! I finally got to sit down on thecomputer to do this.Today is William's 1 week Birthday which is very exciting and ourlittle man is continuing to show us how strong he is with his steadyimprovement every day. He is starting to move his fingers, toes,arms, legs and mouth as he wakes up after being taken off hisparalytic drugs on Sunday. These drugs keps him paralyzed and he wasalso sedated so that he would relax and let all the machines andmedecines do their jobs to help him recover. It is so wonderful tosee him start moving and we need him to become more active in order towork out all the fluids that have built up in his little body over thepast few days. His nurse Martha is very confident that she will getto see him open his "pirate eye", (he tends to open his right eye morethan the left). Chris and I have been spending the morning from about7:30 or 8am to 2pm or 3pm or so at the hospital, going home for a napand then returning around 6pm - 7pm and staying until about 1 or 2am.We realized that getting sleep at home at night was important for usand we know we are not far from him and that the hospital will call ifanything were to change. We are waiting on word from the Cardiac ICUon when we can move up there from the NICU but he is getting the bestof care there right now. It sounds like surgery will be the beginningof next week and not the end of this week as we had originally beentold. This will give William even more time to recover and growstrong before his heart surgery which is very important. Today he gotsome special visitors too which he was very excited about! Dan andJohn stopped by at lunchtime as well as Kathleen, Andrea and Jenny(who all work at Children's). Will loves getting visits from hisfamily and friends and hopefully he'll be looking at them all verysoon. Sydney has also been paying him frequent visits from upstairsand they are apparently getting to be great buddies :)I know a lot of people are asking what they can do to help, and reallyright now, we are still just asking for prayers for Will's recoveryand to heal his little heart and body. Chris and I know he is goingto come home with us soon and we are doing our best to be patient andto be by his side, supporting him as much as possible.I attached a pic of him from this morning - he's still on a ventilatorbut is breathing pretty much on his own now which is awesome! Hereally is so adorable (although I may be biased), and we love juststaring at his little face all day long and talking to him. We havestory time every night and Chris has determined that Goodnight Moon isalready William's favorite :) I will keep updating as I have the timeand again, please forward this email around to anyone that I have notalready included - the more prayers and thoughts we have going his way, the better!Love,


Katie, Chris and William Saykes




Oct. 14, 2010




Hi everyone,


Just a quick update. We moved up to the Cardiac CICU yesterday sothat was great news! Will is going to be up here for a while now preand post surgery. He was lucky enough to get a corner room with a viewof downtown and hopefully he'll be opening his eyes soon to enjoy the sunrise! Our little man continues to get a little better every dayand is still enjoying all his visits from family and friends! Hisbuddies Aidan, Finley and Lilly have made him some awesome signs thatwe have hung in his room! Thank you for your continuing prayers forWilliam:)


Love,


Katie, Chris and Will

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010


On Saturday, my mom and dad caught morning rounds and got an update on my condition. I was doing a little better still than the day before, which was great news. I also had another awesome nurse named Christie! I did have a slight trace of blood in my diaper today but it wasn't anything too concerning because things like this tend to happen when your organs undergo a trauma like mine did. The doctors also told my mom and dad that my liver was a bit damaged and that it would heal, but I was having a little trouble with my blood clotting so I was getting platelets to help that get better. I also got hooked up to the EEG today so that the neurologists could watch my brain waves to make sure everything looked good. I looked pretty crazy with those little sensors glued all over my head! I did have a very short seizure but it didn't appear to be anything serious. As a precaution, they put me on some anti-seizure medication that should prevent any more of these from happening.

In the morning, Uncle Pat and Aunt Liz brought my dog Shelly and their dog Ollie to spend some time with my mom and dad across the street at Bread Co. I knew mom and dad would be back so I was happy to let them go visit Shelly and get some breakfast. Uncle Tom and Aunt Erin visited me as well which I loved! I also got a visit from my pediatrician, Dr. Kreusser. Daddy's friends Dan and Peter also dropped off a big bag of snacks and drinks for my mom and dad to have at the hospital which was so awesome of them! Later that night, my Grandpa Tom, Grandma Pattie, Grandpa Jerry, Grandma Karen, Aunt Melissa, Aunt Liz and Uncle Pat came to visit again - I am one very popular little guy!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010 - HLHS Diagnosis

On Oct. 7th, I was due to go home with my mom and dad, which we were all very excited about. My mom dressed me in my going-home outfit and put a little blue hat on my head and snapped a bunch of pictures to remember this very important day. Around 2:30pm, Dad packed up the car and we got one last family picture taken by our wonderful nurse, Denise before heading out of the hospital. A very special nurse named Kathy Hill was called from the NICU to walk us down to the car and that is where all the trouble started. Kathy, my dad and mom noticed I was breathing little funny but mom and dad weren't sure what to think of it. Kathy also noticed my skin color was changing a little bit and started mentioning some concern to mom and dad. Dad went to get the car out of the garage, but luckily, Kathy was observant enough to suggest that she, mom and I go back upstairs to check things out.

So up we went, bac to the nursery. Mom and dad waited outside and watched from the window as Kathy took my pulse and examined me. Then Dr. Akshaya Vachharajani, a Wash U. Prof. of Pediatrics who was at the hospital that day walked in to check me out as well. Mom and dad started to get very worried as more doctors went in to look at me and they went to sit down and wait to find out what exactly was going on. The pediatrician from the hospital, Dr. Deming, who had checked me out during my stay, then came to talk to my mom and dad and told them some very upsetting news. She explained that it looked like I had some sort of infection or possibly something even more serious was going on and that I was very very sick. Mom and dad were completely stunned because I had seemed perfectly healthy about an hour earlier and they had almost taken me home from the hospital! Me, my mom and dad know that it was divine intervention that brought Kathy into my life and we definitely believe she is my guardian angel. It's also no simple coincidence that Dr. Akshaya was one of the first doctors to look at me and he is another one of my special angels. I can't wait to give Kathy and Akshaya a big hug one day!

So then Denise led mom and dad to a conference room to wait for more news while the doctors took me to the NICU to give me more special care. About an hour later, Dr. Akshaya sat down with my mom and dad and explained what they thought was happening to me. He said that my condition was critical and again, that it may be an infection or that something called a "PDA" - a duct that connects my aorta and pulmonary artery- had closed and possibly cut off the blood circulation to my body, and then the third possibility, and most serious, was that I may have a heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (what a smart doctor!).

He explained that they had already started giving me antibiotics in case it was and infection and that the transport team from Children's Hospital was on their way to take me there. He said that they would also administer a medication to reopen my PDA, if that was in fact the problem. Soon after the transport team team arrived and got me ready to got to Children's. Mom and dad got to come in and see me before they took me out and when they saw me they were very scared. My skin was very pale and I had gotten some IV lines put into my belly button for my medicine. They took me downstairs and put me in the ambulance and my mom and dad followed in their car to the hospital. When we got there they rushed me to the NICU and started working to stabilize me and to figure out what was going on. Mom and dad were met by their parents in the waiting room and a while later, they were taken back to talk to the doctors about my condition.
Dr. Jagu Anadkat,one of the fellows and Dr. Silva, Cardiology, explained to them that the "plumbing" of my heart was not set up the same way as a normal heart and that I had congenital heart disease. When my PDA closed when I was getting ready to go home, the blood supply was cut off to my aorta so I was not getting blood circulation to my body. Luckily the medicine opened the duct but I had gone into shock at Mo Bap, so it would take a while to stabilize me. Dr. Silva explained to me, mom and dad that there was going to be a very long road ahead of me which would definitely include multiple heart surgeries to correct my defect.

Jagu then explained that my defect was called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (just as Dr. Akshaya had suspected) and that instead of 4 chambers, my heart only had 3 because I don't have a left ventricle. She explained that to fix my heart, I would undergo 3 different surgeries - the first as soon as possible, the second around 4-6 months of age and the third and final around 2-4 years of age. She also told us that this type of defect is basically a random act of nature and there was nothing that we did or didn't do that caused this to happen. It occurs very early when a baby is developing - around 6 - 8 weeks, and sometimes it is detected before birth but sometimes it is not. The next day (10/8), mom and dad met with Mary Wood, RN, who explained the surgeries in more detail and told us about the surgeon at Children's named Dr. Huddelston, who was going to perform the sugeries. I was also going to remain in the NICU under the care of Dr. Coghlan, Fellow, Dr. Criscola, Resident, and Dr. Mathur, Attending until a room opened up for me in the Cardiac ICU. I can't believe how lucky I am to be at this hospital with such an amazing team of doctors and nurses looking after me!

Friday, Oct. 8, 2010



My mom and dad spent the night in the hospital the first night I was here so they could be close by my side. The doctors worked all night on me, trying to stabilize me. They hooked me up to a lot of machines, gave me a lot of medications and took ultrasounds of my heart and other organs to see exactly what was going on. I had a wonderful nurse named my first night and she took excellent care of me!

In the morning my mom and dad met Dr. Mathur, Attending, and he filled them in on my progress overnight. He said I was still not quite stable but was much much better than when I had come in on Thursday evening. He also told them that they had put me on some medications to sedate and paralyze me so that my body wasn't working so hard to do anything. I was on a ventilator, so that was going to help me breathe. I also loved my nurse Mary Ann - she was very gentle and sweet to me!

Mom and dad spent the day by my side, telling me they loved me, that they were going to get me through this and that I was going to be all better soon. My uncle Tommer came to visit that morning and sat with my mom and dad and sent good thoughts and prayers my way. I also got a special visit from Dr. Akshaya who said I looked so much better than when he had checked me out the night before. He said that I was a very lucky little boy and that I was in great hands here at Children's. That night, my mom and dad met with Mary Wood, RN, who explained the surgeries that I would require in more detail. She said that Dr. Huddelston would come find us when it was time to discuss surgery in more detail and that when there was a room available, I would be moving from the NICU to the CICU (but that wouldn't happen for several more days).

Thursday, October 7, 2010

William Thomas Saykes, Oct. 5, 2010

Hi Everyone,


My name is Will Saykes and I was born on October 5th, 2010 at 5:24 pm in the evening at Missouri Baptist Medical Center. I weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz and I was 20.5 in long. My mom and dad were so so happy to welcome me into the world and I knew instantly that they loved me very very much! I spent the first 2 days and nights at Mo Bap with my mom and dad and we all had a wonderful time getting to know each other. I was such a good boy and I only cried when they took my clothes off to change my diaper or feed me! I passed all of my tests and was doing just great! I had a lot of family visit me in the hospital, too - my Grandma and Grandpa Saykes, Grandma and Grandpa Butler, my Aunts Lizzie, Erin and Melissa and my uncles Tommer and Pat. I also got to meet my Aunt Cathy (who gave me my awesome nickname "Iron Will", Uncle Jack, Aunt Joanne, Uncle Tom and Uncle Jerry. I am a very lucky little boy to have so many family members that love and care for me so much!