Big day today (again!)

Drew will recieve his first real food today!! They are going to start giving him about 2 cc's of breastmilk via his NG tube and see how he digests it. Let's hope that all goes well and his organs absorb nutrients and do what they're supposed to do, this is so exciting! Yesterday, the tube going to his stomach and suctioning out bile and saliva was removed which is a good sign that the doctors feel that the intestines are ready to start their job.

His latest chest x-ray (today's) showed that his lungs are inflated. They actually look pretty good. It's the first good, clear x-ray we've seen since surgery because they are all digitized now; they rarely print out actual copies. There is a noticeable difference in the sizes of the lungs though.

There's also a fairly large area between the chest wall and the ribs showing up on x-ray. And it's not fat, it's fluid. That left chest tube is still draining a lot--I know that I keep saying that but that seems to be the biggest concern right now. They are replacing the fluid that comes out by 25% now (were doing 50%) but the problem is that the fluid coming out contains a lot of protien. His body NEEDS that protien but his tissues and cells aren't absorbing it like they should because it's coming out of the tube. But Drew has to have the chest tube otherwise the fluid would build up and compress his little left lung. As his surgeon says, it's a real catch-22 right now. They are going to have to restitch his left chest tube today because the stitches popped out a couple of days ago.

Dr. M. also feels that the excess fluid and swelling are contributing to the problems with the weaning of the vent (respiration rate). That and the fact that it's still fairly soon after ECMO and surgery to expect to wean quickly. He's still at 35 breaths per minute.

The hematoma will be drained again today. It's been reaccumulating fluid (as I've said previously, I know I'm repeating myself). Eventually, Dr. M. might just put a drain in it.