Thursday, June 2, 2016

Rough Day

I wish I had better news to report this morning but little Max is struggling. Brad and I arrived at the hospital yesterday morning expecting to see Max a little more awake and a little better off then right after his surgery. Instead we were informed that he had a rough night. Over night on Tuesday Max's right lung partially collapsed and his pulmonary edema worsened. As a result of these two things his blood gas oxygen levels (the oxygen levels in his body) were very low. They began aggressively treating his lung problems with a respiratory therapist. They were able to get his right lung inflated again and they temporarily got his oxygen levels up. Unfortunately throughout the day they continued to drop. The doctors have been trying many different approaches to get his oxygen levels back up: they give little Max a blood transfusion to give him more red blood cells to increase his oxygen carrying capacity, they bumped up his oxygen levels on his ventilator (he's still 100% reliant on his ventilator), they increased his diuretic to get more fluid out of his lungs, they gave him a vasodilator to dilate the blood vessels in his lungs, they put him on a nitrous machine (not quite sure what that is), and they continued aggressive breathing treatments with the respiratory therapist.

If all of these attempts fail to increase his oxygen levels then there is a possibility that the surgeon put the pulmonary band on too tight (reducing his oxygen levels) and that he will have to go back into surgery. Brad and I are scared and really need Max to turn a corner today. Please keep little Max in your prayers and I hope and pray that I can give more positive updates later today...

2 comments:

  1. Praying for mighty Max. Inhaled nitric oxide also is a vasodilator. I know this is super scary but sounds like these are not uncommon problems after heart surgery. It is kind of a balancing act trying to figure out what he needs. I know he is in good hands.

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  2. I'm so sorry you all are having a rough day. I'll keep you all in my prayers for sure. Again, I can't express how sorry I'm for you & little Max.

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