Thursday Update

Andrew had an up-and-down day. On the up side, he's been taken off isolation, which means we no longer have to put on gloves and gowns before we enter his room. Today was the first time I've been able to touch him with my bare hands in almost two months. He also had a pretty good day of respiration, breathing well and recovering quickly when upset. The rest of his sedation was turned off and his steroid dosage was cut in half, both of which he responded to nicely.

We had a meeting with the on-call doctor as well. We didn't have many new questions since the last time we spoke to a doctor, and there wasn't a lot of new information. His left lung has inflated, but isn't causing problems; his right lung is still well-inflated and working well. He has some pretty severe muscle atrophy because of his long-term sedation and steroid treatments, so it will be a slow process to get him back up to speed and ready to extubate. The "accessory" muscles that CDH babies use in place of their missing diaphragm need to build their strength again, and until then they will be weaning the ventilator very slowly. Physical therapists will come work with his arms and legs to get his other muscles back in shape, and the simple act of removing the sedation will allow him to help himself.

This evening, some time between 6:30 and 9, Andrew spiked a fever. His heart rate was elevated and his temperature was up, though he was still breathing fine. They gave him some medication for his heart, acetaminophen and ibuprofen for the fever, and put ice packs around his head and groin areas as a precaution. The fever broke and his heart rate dropped in response to the medicines; his temperature never got high enough to do damage, and he was awake and calm through most of the process. An infection/fever certainly is never a good thing, but they got it under control quickly and he handled it well. He's now resting comfortably.