Today's update

First of all, I would like to ask everyone to keep another CDH baby and her family in their thoughts and prayers. Avery is not doing well and her mother Lauren will likely have to make some difficult decisions soon. I do not usually do this but I am going to post a link to her blog before obtaining permission so that everyone can read about this remarkable little girl. Her blog can be found here: Baby Avery.

Drew is doing ok; not great but not terrible for all that he's been through. The surgeon is still happy with where he is from a respiratory standpoint right now. They are slowly weaning his vent. His oxygen is down to 30% and the respiration rate will be down to 49 breaths per minute at 8 p.m. They are dropping that by 1 every even hour but are probably going to stop for a while at 49 and let Drew adjust. His sats are staying good throughout this weaning and his last blood gas was EXCELLENT. Carbon dioxide was in the normal range and so was his ph. Oxygen was at 97%.

The metabolic issues seem to have been resolved. They've found the right level to keep everything where it needs to be.

Drew's blood pressure was a bit low today when taken internally but it was ok when taken by the cuff. He was taken off all blood pressure medication (dopamine) yesterday so the lowering is something they are watching.

His hematoma seems to be more of a seroma (sp?) now. That means instead of being blood filled, it's filled more with just bodily fluids. It's still huge but it's soft and spreading out a little. It will probably have to be drained at some point, the worry with that is infection. He's developed a small blister on it as well.

His left chest tube drainage is becoming "concerning," according to the surgeon. He's already drained well over 1500 cc's since last Wednesday afternoon. They don't really know why there is so much drainage but they are going to try to adjust the tube by taking out a stitch and pulling it back a couple of centimeters.

His kidney function and urine output have picked up and are at acceptable levels now. Could be higher but it's not near as bad as it was. Because of this, they are not going to try and pull off any of the fluid making him swell right now. His kidneys have been through so much that they are just going to let them rest for a while. So Drew's pretty swollen but nothing like he was when he was on ECMO. There was some concern because it's mainly his head that is swelling. That's being watched and there was no indication of a clot anywhere causing that.

There are some more issues but I just don't feel like writing a novel tonight and my mind is going in a million different directions.

If you are feeling brave, some pictures of Drew's hematoma from March 25 when it was at its worst and some pictures of his incision can be found here. The password is drew2006 and if it asks for a login name, it's Drews_Mommy. They are some ugly pictures so consider yourself warned. Click on the image to see it full size.