Friday, April 3, 2009

Good News

Hey y'all, Joye again. I've taken the blog back under my control :) A lot has happened since Jeramie updated you guys last night. This will be my attempt to summarize it the best I can:

Last night was not quite as rough as we had anticipated. Other than people coming in at all hours to take vital signs and x-rays, we all slept pretty well. There were times when Ethan would wake up randomly and scream, but he calmed down pretty quickly once I got him in my arms. I've made two observations about this : 1) I have a feeling he might be on his way to being pretty spoiled, and 2) there is definitely nothing wrong with this child's vocal cords!

The x-ray from over night looked stable, if not better than, the original x-ray that confirmed the pneumatosis. This was our first piece of good news for the day. However, it was followed by a bit of a blow. We found out that the bowel rest portion of Ethan's treatment will last for 14 days from yesterday. This means he will not receive anything in his tummy for the next 2 weeks, which means we'll be hanging out here that much longer. He's currently getting something called TPN to supplement his nutrition, so hopefully that will help with relieving some of those hunger cues/pangs.

The best news of all came about 2 hours ago. The attending cardiologist came in to tell us that Ethan's 3:00 p.m. x-ray showed NO SIGNS of pneumatosis!! How awesome is that?! How good is our God?! We're not out of the woods just yet, but this is exactly what we've been hoping and praying for. Ethan will receive 2 more x-rays over night, then the frequency will begin to taper off, given that nothing more develops.

So, what's the plan? As I've already mentioned we'll be here, for sure, until April 16 (14 days from yesterday). After that, they will start Ethan's feeds again. From there, its just a matter of how long it takes him to begin tolerating the compression again. We're preparing to be here for another month or so after all is said and done. Bummer? For sure. BUT, we are SO thankful that this was found before being discharged today. The doctors were able to be super aggressive with his treatment, and now here we are celebrating a clear x-ray!

In other news, Ethan is currently not hanging out with us. They took him back down to the cardiac unit about 30 minutes ago to try to insert a PICC line in order to give him more TPN. This procedure requires a little bit of sedation and a sterile environment, so he's back with his friends in the PCICU for a while. They'll bring him back to us once the line is placed and he's good and awake. Pray that all goes well over the next hour or so! This is the first time in 5 days I've been away from him for this long and it feels very strange.

Please keep believing in the power of prayer. I think my mama said it best tonight when she said, "my prayers no longer have an 'amen'".

"Pray without ceasing" -1 Thessalonians 5:17

3 comments:

Janet Fuller said...

Though I am sorry to hear that you will have to all be at the hospital for 2 more weeks I am thrilled with the xray results and diagnosis. We continue to pray for all three of you, for the doctors and nurses in the decision that need to be made on behalf of Ethan. God bless you all.

Heather Thompson said...

I know it is disappointing to be there a few more weeks but if that is what Ethan needs it is okay. God is in control here and he hears our prayers.
I have asked all of Trevor's prayer warriors (who are now Jodi and Torrey's warriors) to make sure they had extra prayers going up for Ethan.
Do you know the song Awesome God?? I have been singing it a lot the last few weeks ~ it is a great reminder!!
Keep the faith!!

Jenn said...

We are thankful for the good news, and we will keep praying!

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