Day 15-The waiting game

Today wasn't too bad. It was pretty quiet on Jakes end in that he held his blood pressure up and was quiet. We had some good news! Jake had a head ultrasound the night he came back from surgery that showed a brain bleed, then Wed morning they did another ultrasound that showed a normal brain, with no bleed, so they weren't sure which ultrasound was correct, so today they did a third head ultrasound and there is no bleed! They think that the first ultrasound was so close to after surgery that there was lots of fluid and trauma that made it look like a brain bleed! So, this is GREAT news, because if he did have a brain bleed he needed to get off ECMO asap. Now, as long as the head ultrasounds continue to look good, they will keep him on ECMO a few more days to let his body recover. They really want him to start peeing so that it shows his kidney is functioning.

Some bad news is that his right leg is VERY PURPLE because of the damage to his veins in his groin. The dr's aren't sure if it is a spastic artery or a blood clot, or what. They tried an ultrasound on his leg but couldn't find any arterial flow, but that might have been because the vein is causing pooling around the artery so they can't get a good picture. They have started him on some Low Flow medication that will hopefully break down a blood clot and also help to dialate the blood vessels to allow more room for the blood to flow to the leg. The hardest part with his leg is that he is in a lot of pain when you touch it. He is on really heavy pain meds, and they increased it 2 times today, but whenever you touch his leg his eyes get really big, then start to tear and then he winces in pain. His hands also clench into fists and his blood pressure goes up, so we know he is feeling it. It is really hard to watch him grimace. I wish I could take the pain away for him. It is a big waiting game and hard not to see any progress. He started losing more blood today, so he has had 4 transfusions alone, so all those people who have donated blood-THANK YOU!!

Anyways, that is the update today. I won't post any photos, still, but may in a few days. Unfortuantely, we haven't lost any of the machines. In fact, they added more, but we will take things VERY slowly. They said they will probably wait through the weekend to take him off ECMO, but he will have to go back to the OR for that, and at that time they will do the surgery that was originally intended on Tues.

Thanks for all who are thinking and praying for our baby. The amount of people supporting us is amazing. If you don't want to leave a comment on my blog but want to e-mail me, please feel free! I might not respond right away, but I definately don't mind!
Anyways, I'm going to head to bed. The Dr's start coming at 7:30am and don't stop throughout the day!! Please pray for his leg and for his kidney! Thank you!!