Arrived this morning to find many items missing from the room - all the pumps that had been turned off, gone. Ventilator gone. Pacemaker and all wires gone. Brain/Renal O2 meters gone, so no more sensors on her head and back. The way they had arranged her blankets it almost looked as if there was nothing connected to her anymore... just an illusion, unfortunately, but a nice one!
Muriel is now receiving Megan's breast milk via a feeding tube run through her nose directly to her stomach. Last night it was on a continuous drip, and every few hours they would check to see how much milk was still in her stomach, to see if she was absorbing it. No problem there. So sometime last night routine was change to give her larger amounts regularly, as if she was actually feeding normally.
It can't all be good news. Last night they started tracking her CO2 levels rising again. Peak so far at 69%, which is as high as we have seen it. After speaking with Dr. Melissa this morning this was somewhat to be expected, and follows from what they are seeing on X-rays. Her lungs are "wet" again, and a portion of her right lung had collapsed. They actually noticed this yesterday, and respiratory has been doing the percussion treatments for almost 24 hours now to both open it back up and shake loose some of the gunk down there. In addition they are starting up the diaretics again today, but by mouth instead of IV (trying to wean her off the IV tubes so they can be pulled). That should dry up the lungs. There are thoughts that we pulled back on the diaretics too soon. Have also added some oxygen to her airflow, though her oxygen saturation still looks ok. Dr. Melissa says not to worry. Easier said than done.
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| Mommy gets to hold her |
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| Sleeping this morning... with a new flower! |
She looks so perfect in your arms!! So happy for all this great news--- thinking about you all everyday!
ReplyDeleteKatie DeAngelis
Great news, great photos. Our thought and prayers are with you.
ReplyDelete