Tuesday, March 24, 2009

To Extubate, or Not??

Well, friends, these past two days have been pretty frustrating. Our little guy is still on the vent and is HATING it! The doctors were not able to extubate yesterday due to a few factors: 1) there is still some bloody secretion coming from the tube, 2) his chest x-ray showed a little bit of fluid in his lungs, and 3) Ethan's either knocked out, or ticked off. Finding the balance between keeping him awake, yet calm has been very difficult. He's also having some apnea spells that is a bit concerning. The doctors seem to think it's because he's too drugged, and not because he is "forgetting" to breathe. We're praying this will be resolved if/when they can get him totally off of medication. Do you see the catch 22 here?? He has a tube in his throat, he wakes up, he gets mad, he gets mildly sedated, he stops breathing, the doctors aren't comfortable extubating, the tube stays in .... over, and over, and over.

I feel so helpless when I walk in and see him so mad. I wish I could just yank that tube out myself! We need some serious prayers right now. Pray that God would totally wrap his arms around our little boy and comfort him in a way none of us can. Pray that these apnea spells would resolve. Pray for the doctors who are making tough decisions right now. Pray for Jeramie who is at work and would rather not be. Pray for me as I sit by Ethan's bed and feel so weak. We all need strength right now.

Pray, pray, pray.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Prayers you need, prayers you've got. We love you.
Love Jenny Miller

Jenn said...

We are praying for all of you.

Anonymous said...

hey Joye! i keep reading your notes, and keep praying for you and ethan and jeramie, and your family, and the doctors, and the nurses, and the respiratory techs... i don't know anything about critically sick babies, but from working in the icu the past 2 years, i do have a lot of experience of intubations and extubations...and diprivan and fentanyl, and all that jazz...of course you want him to be off the vent and breathing all on his own, but don't rush it...he'll come off when he's all ready...him maintaining on CPAP is a good thing, a good sign...his body is so fragile(although babies are very resilient at the same time)...from a icu nurse's standpoint, better to have him on the vent another day or so is much less traumatic to him and his already irritated throat tissues, than to extubate him and then have to tube him again. but regardless of my "2 cents," i am praying for the "right knowlegde" of what to do with ethan that can only come from the Lord and his infinite wisdom. i love ya roomie. i wish i was there by y'alls side. also, i talked to eric and cat - they said to let y'all know they send their love and prayers too.
love, maggie jo

Anonymous said...

More prayers going up for all of you!

Lois

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