Post-Fontan recovery: Day 4 (PICU)

Jessica has continued to have more chest physio to help try and clear her chest. She has been blowing bubbles to try and help clear her lungs. The first batch of bubbles had washing up liquid and paint to help making the bubble blowing more fun. This worked quite well until she ended up getting a mouthful by forgetting to blow (in front of the consultant!) and so the bubble liquid has been replaced with blackcurrant squash instead. It still works well with getting her to blow bubbles in it but isn’t quite so much fun with trying to see how many bubbles she can make!

On ultrasound, the right side of her diaphragm isn’t working as well as her left and is a little high. At present, the team are monitoring this. Mr Viola, the surgeon, came to see Jessica this morning and is fairly happy with her progress although her lungs are a cause for concern at present. It may be that she’ll need a procedure on her diaphragm to help give her right lung a bit more space although for now, the team will just keep an eye on this.


Jessica had her chest dressing removed yesterday and her new zip looks very neat. She still has the chest drains in situ and the fluid from these is being monitored a little more closely to check for chyle. She had a chylothorax after both her previous surgeries and while we’re hoping that we’ve managed to avoid it this time around, there is a risk that it could happen again.

We managed to have our first post-surgery cuddle with Jessica yesterday evening while her bedsheets were being changed. It was a brief cuddle as she is quite uncomfortable with all the drains and tubes in her, but it was lovely to have a cuddle again.

Jessica is much more awake now. She is very tired but is coping well with everything. We are so proud of how brave she is being, particularly when she is having chest physio and suction which is very unpleasant for her. She knows that it is being done to help make her feel better and while it upsets her to have it done, she accepts that she needs it and doesn’t resist too much. She is being very quiet and mostly communicates with nods and shakes of her head at the moment; occasionally asking for water or a DVD. We do get the odd little half-smile and I had a “love you too” this morning which was lovely.



The plan at the moment is for Jessica to remain on PICU for a while longer. Her sats have generally been good and she is doing well on the whole. Once her chest clears we will hopefully be able to go back up to Ocean Ward.