First Wean Attempt

After the doctors decided to turn down Lincoln's oxygen and one of his blood pressure medicines yesterday, he continued to decline. Throughout the night I called to check up on his lab work, which they were testing every two hours to stay on top of his oxygen levels. His numbers steadily dropped. The doctors decided to return Linc's ventilator oxygen level back to 100 and they also returned his blood pressure meds. They also added an epinephrine drip. Then around 3 am the nurse told me that it looked as those he may be coming around and that she would do another blood test at 4 to confirm.

At 4:20am my phone rang. It was the hospital, and I felt my heart race as I answered it. I knew they would only call if it was urgent. The doctor said that Lincoln's blood cell count was low due to all of the lab work they had run all night. They had not gotten his labs back yet from the 4am draw, but they wanted to perform a blood transfusion to get more blood into Linc's system. They said that since his cell count was down, that may be contributing to his continued low oxygen levels, since blood cells are what carry oxygen throughout the body. The doctor needed my consent over the phone to start the transfusion. After briefly discussing with Dan, I gave consent. Within 15 mins Dan and I were on our way to Children's to be by his side. The transfusion would be given over 2 hours.

Dan and I arrived at children's at 5:20am and Linc's levels were drifting. At 7am the team of surgeons and neonatologists came by to discuss Lincoln, and by that time his oxygen levels had dropped as low as they were on Saturday (our first dip in the roller coaster). They said this looks like typical pulmonary hypertension, and they have been expecting it. They decided to decrease the pressure of his ventilator to prevent his lungs from over filling, and not being able to absorb the oxygen they are giving him. They also decided to fully sedate Linc to see if that will allow him to relax enough to get the oxygen in his system. The surgeon in chief mentioned ECMO again, and said it may be where we are headed for later in the day.

So now we are waiting to see how Linc responds to the various small changes the doctors will make this morning.