Last post for the night

I talked to the nurses a couple of times tonight, including once about ten minutes ago. They decided not to bring the flow all the way down....not because of anything Drew's doing, but because they don't want the machine to be that low for that long. The lower the flow, the more heparin they have to add to keep the blood moving, and that increases chances of bleeding during the surgery. Instead of slowing it down gradually throughout the night, they're leaving it where it is currently (12) and then doing a test early tomorrow morning. In the span of an hour, they'll turn it down relatively quickly and then clamp it long enough to get accurate blood oxygen saturations. Then they'll turn it back up so they can dial back the heparin.

All the nurses and doctors I've talked to in the last day sound VERY positive about his numbers and his responses to the challenges they've put forward. His lung(s) are responding nicely and they are confident that he will be able to handle being taken off the ECMO. Even at a flow of 12, they still haven't had to dial up the oxygen on his ventilator from 40%, so they have plenty of breathing room (no pun intended) if he needs additional support after surgery. We have the knowledge of hundreds of years of combined doctor/nurse experience taking care of our baby....some of the best in the country....and I feel confident that they'll do exactly what's best for Andrew.

Again, don't be alarmed if you don't hear from us for a while tomorrow. I'll try to post while we're waiting, but it could take a long time....and that doesn't have ANY bearing on the successful outcome.