A Little Something Extra

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Tuesday Micah update

Micah is off the ventilator!!!  Sorry for the lack of update yesterday, but I never turned on my computer.  I can update Facebook from my iPhone, but I have no idea how to post to my blog from my phone (anyone with simple instructions, please help!).

Monday morning's chest x-ray showed that the upper lobe of his right lung was still collapsed.  So the doc did a bronchoscopy and was able to suck out some mucus plugs (it was bizarre being able to see inside my child's lungs on a video monitor).  Micah was fairly irritable most of the day yesterday since he was being weaned off his sedation meds in preparation for extubation.

After he was taken off the ventilator, they immediately put on a nasal cannula at 100% oxygen.  His breathing was VERY raspy and he needed frequent suctioning of his lungs to remove goop.  He was tachypnic and his chest was retracting with every breath (those were his two primary symptoms of congestive heart failure prior to his heart surgery two years ago, so I'm all too familiar with seeing his chest do that).  You could hear his breathing a few doors down the hall.

His breathing has gotten better since then.  By this morning he was only occasionally raspy and the doc was happy to not hear his breathing outside the room.  He's down to 40% oxygen and only occasional suctioning.

This morning they took out THREE more things: 1) arterial line, 2) another IV line in his femur, and 3) foley catheter (now he needs to pee on his own).  He still has a central line in his femur.  I actually saw the doc put that in while Micah was being treated in the ER.  It was definitely done on an emergent basis... kind of scary.  Anyway, the primary purpose of this line now is to provide Micah with TPN (nutrition through his bloodstream rather than his digestive tract).  He also still has a chest tube which is draining fluid from his chest cavity.  I'd like that one to be gone soon.

I was almost finished with this post and the doc came in and decided to take out his chest tube.  Yay!!!

So, where do we go from here?  They started Micah on a very slow drip of formula through his feeding tube this morning.  Previous attempts have not gone well (he has not digested anything of significance).  The rate is only delivering an ounce of formula every six hours, so it's not much.  But please pray that it's not all sitting in his stomach tomorrow morning.

Great progress since Sunday, praise God!  Now I'm off to hold my son for the first time in 10 days.

20 comments:

ATLKrafts said...

Yeah! glad you are getting to hold him... so happy he is doing better. Go Micah!

Cathy said...

Yay Micah!!! You are such a little fighter. I hope mommy got some good snuggles with you. We are praying!!!

my family said...

enjoy holding that sweet boy, look forward to more great news

Jonathan's Mom said...

Oh, this is lots of progress, and we are so thankful! We're continuing to pray and so glad you got to hold your little guy, even briefly. Jonathan put a picture in the mail today for him. Keep in mind that J. has only been willing to write/draw for just a few months :) and that he did it with lots of love!

Jessica-MomForHim said...

Praise the Lord! I'm so glad you get to hold him now. I know it's been a rough journey, and it's great to hear that he is on the upswing! We'll keep praying!

Andrea K. Van Ye said...

Wonderful, glorious news! Snuggle in ... you are doing a great job and continue to show forth the power of God. I am so proud of you!

Sara P said...

i am so glad he is doing so much better:) what a strong little boy:) way to go micah!!!

Jessica said...

YAY YAY YAY! That is wonderful news. WTG Micah! Hope you had a good long snuggle with your mama. You are all in our thoughts and prayers.

Kim said...

So glad to hear that you are getting such good news and that Micah is making such wonderful progress. I think about you everyday. Still praying!!!

Kim said...

So glad to hear that you are getting such good news and that Micah is making such wonderful progress. I think about you everyday. Still praying!!!

Kim said...

So glad to hear that you are getting such good news and that Micah is making such wonderful progress. I think about you everyday. Still praying!!!

Ruthann G said...

So glad to hear he's doing better! And that you can hold him!! Good that his lungs are clearing quickly. We continue to pray that Micah has a full recovery.

Derek, Kenzee and Gage said...

So much fabulous news!! I'm so happy to hear it all. And SO happy you get to hold him! I'm sure he will be just as happy as you are!!

Kacey Bode said...

I am SOO very happy to hear that Micah is doing so much better!! I hope you get in some good snuggles!!!

Anonymous said...

happy and relieved for you. continued well wishes from WI

Monica Crumley said...

Awww, I'm so happy things are improving for Micah and that you were able to hold him today. That must be so hard for both of you! Get better little guy! We're praying for a full recovery!

Little Liam said...

Jennie-
Your Micah is a brave little fighter! I am so happy that things are starting to turn the corner for you! I remember those scary days in the hospital with tubes, lines, slow tube feeds, ventilator settings, and cannulas...My prayers go out to you know in this recovery period. Enjoy that long-awaited hold of your boy-best feeling in the world!
Kristin

Jamie said...

So happy to hear about the good progress! Praying hard for your little man! I had no idea we were going through so many similar things! Andy had to have a lot of mucus plugs worked out of his lungs as well. It seemed to help a lot. I'm so happy that you are able to hold him now!! Happy snuggling!!

Angela said...

Jennie- what an answer to prayers!! I am sooooo glad that he's doing better! I think about you guys all the time. Praying that God will continue to keep you guys safe under His wing.

Vicky said...

Wonderful news about Micah! We've been praying for him and your family.

About posting from your iPhone, if you have texting, you can post via that. Go to your Dashboard and then to the tab "email & mobile" and click "add mobile device". Once you add your phone number, the system will send you a text and let you know if it was successfully added. Then all you have to do is send a text to a number they give you ( I think it's 256-447) and it will publish. There's no way to put a title for the post until later, but at least you can publish. Let me know if you have questions: vosinga@hotmail.com
Hope that helps! :)