March 28, 2010

SUNDAY, MARCH 28, 2010 5:14 PM, CDT

Today has been another good day for Liam. Dr. Sison has decreased the rate at which the vent breathes for him and started him on caffeine (which helps him remember to breathe) to get him to breathe more on his own. So far, he is doing pretty well with out-breathing the vent. Whereas before they wanted him NOT to breathe for himself, now it's a good thing. He is tolerating the CPT pretty well, too, though he does NOT like it.

The BIG news, though, is that Dr. Sison is saying they're hoping to try him OFF the ventilator sometime in the next couple of days and try him on CPAP (like people with sleep apnea use) which will keep pressure going to his lungs so he doesn't have to work so hard to keep his lungs open.

We still can't hold him, though, right now. The only thing that's stopping us is the UAC line. Once that comes out (again), we can hold him - even if he's still on the vent. I'm also being very cautiously excited about he possibility of coming off the vent, too, because he's being watched VERY closely for pneumonia, right now, because he's having lots of brown-tinged mucous when they suction him....praying he doesn't end up with pneumonia again!

A few other things I forgot earlier:
Liam came off the phototherapy again, today. He also had his first poopy diaper...so hopefully the phototherapy light is gone for good, now that he has a way to get rid of the bilirubin!