Yesterday afternoon around 3:30 we met with Lincoln's doctors and surgeons. They told us that Lincolns progress had slowed down to the point that ECMO was recommended. ECMO is a heart-lung bypass machine that oxygenates and pumps the blood for the baby so that they can rest. They told us that without ECMO, survival was around 10%. Babies on ECMO have a survival rate of 55-60%. It was an easy decision, but difficult to make. ECMO can cause other problems not related to the CDH. In order for the machine to function properly, Lincoln will have to remain on blood thinners. Clotting is a real danger with this much equipment. The problem with blood thinners is the risk of internal bleeding, and stroke. Ultrasounds of the head are performed regularly to make sure the brain isn't bleeding.
The surgery lasted about an hour and a half. A nurse came back to give us updates as the surgery went on. After it's completetion the lead surgeon came in to tell us that everything went well. After they cleaned Lincoln's room up we were allowed to visit. It was pretty crazy seeing him afterwards. We were used to seeing him attached to tubes from his medicines and ventilator, but now there are much larger tubes full of bright red blood. The lines extend from his neck down to the ECMO machine. It's a lot to take in. I guess before ECMO I thought Lincoln is alive, he just needs some help from all of this stuff. After ECMO I just look at all of this stuff and think, this is what is keeping my baby alive. It's rough.
He hasn't been on ECMO for 24 hours yet, but he seems to be doing ok. The one plus side to ECMO is the fact that we can finally touch him and talk to him. We saw his ears for the first time yesterday. They aren't afraid of him getting too much stimulation since the machine is taking care of most of the work for him. I had a chance to put socks on him this morning, he still put up a fight.
No comments:
Post a Comment