Day 14 Update: It appears we are having our first step back / bad day. The worse part is that there are no real answers at this moment. It started with getting a call from the doctor (she was called in early this morning because of the issues) saying that he is not peeing, low blood pressure, and very low hematrocrit (red blood cell %). Additionally, there is another measure, CRP (C-Reactive Protein), that can be indicative of an infection if elevated... Ethans was very high. While he was taking the indomethacin (medication to attempt to close the PDA), they did reduce the amount of fluids. Then they thought maybe because of all the action yesterday between his procedure and the number of x-rays... pretty much he was handled a lot. This morning they gave him two meds to help fight possible infection but no telling if they have really done their job yet. He peed ever so slightly, no not nearly as much as they would have wanted... especially the amount of fluids he has been receiving. He also got a blood transfusion and this has helped his red blood cell count... The color on him is great... he is very active, opening his eyes, and looks perfectly healthy. It is starting to look like more of a kidney issue. His creatinie (measure of how good the kidneys are working) has always been a bit on the high side, but he was peeing so no worries. Now that he stopped.... there is a worry. It could be part from the fact that he is a preemie, part fluid loss through skin during the action yesterday, and part from the indomethacin. Its really just a waiting, and praying game that his kidneys start functioning as they should. They have tried a bolus of saline but nothing. In a bit, they will order lasix, a diuretic, hoping that will jump start his kidneys a bit to get working. Additionally, his latest blood work came back with a very low platelet count. This could be the result of an infection.... The doc has ordered some meds that help fight a yeast infection. There is nothing definitive, but its a possibility and something they can give antibiotics for without harsh side effects. His blood gases were not that good yesterday and theyve increased the machine support... they are getting slightly better but the machine support is still high... related to the possible infection? Maybe. He was a freaking rock star yesterday on essentially the lowest settings and took a step back there. Lastly, they just completed an ultrasound to check on his PDA (in his heart). Unfortunately, the PDA is still open and large... so it looks like the two rounds of indomethacin did not work. Once they can clear up this infection, get those kidneys working as they should, and the blood gases back up, then they may look at surgically closing the PDA. At this time, not much more to share. I suppose at the moment, as silly as it sounds... we need him to pee. We need those kidneys to start working as they should, again. After that, its sort of one day at a time. The potential surgery for the open PDA would be maybe end of next week.... At this time, its getting the kidneys back to where they need to be and taking care of whatever infection, if it exist. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. #EthanStrong
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 21:45:21 +0000
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