We sit here in disbelief that our baby girl is already 8 weeks old!!! Holy cramole…time both flies and crawls at the same time. =)
 
Ella had a good day. Her stats were stable and her latest blood gas at 8pm was looking good (cO2=59, pO2=90). Her chest tube fluid output was 37 for the day when we checked at 11:30pm.
 
We saw Dr. Kays this evening. He confirmed that we’re on a slow boat to China, but the boat is moving, and in the right direction.
 
He pulled up Ella’s most recent chest x-ray so we could take a look. It looked pretty good, better than a few days ago for sure. Both lungs were more defined which indicated less fluid in her chest.
 
His plan is to take a chest x-ray each morning. If the chest x-ray looks good, the plan will be to simply maintain stats and good blood gases throughout the day (we should not be too concerned with her chest fluid output being lower for the day).
 
If her blood gases are not as good, her chest x-ray is hazy and she is not getting chest fluid output, he will look to replace the chest tube(s) again. He confirmed that besides aggressive surgery, this is the best plan for Ella right now until her body resolves the issue on its own.
 
She’s tolerating her food well. Dr. Kays has been pleased with her progress in this area and has increased her continuous dose of Portagen to 2cc’s per hour.
 
We still have a ways to go, but Ella’s progress is hopeful. Dr. Kays is hesitant to ween her ventilator while she’s dealing with this fluid issue because it can turn around and cause her problems. This is why Ella’s fluid issues needs to be resolved, so she can take her next steps.
 
Thanks to all of you for your support. Please continue to pray for Ella and the fluid hurdle.
 
God Bless.

Ella is having a stable day. She is currently asleep, but we could not resist showing you this picture of her bright, awake eyes from last night.

Her latest blood gas was cO2=55, pO2=86, which is acceptable for her condition right now. Her saturations are not as high as we would like but are hovering around the mid 90’s.

We have not talked to Dr. Kays today, so we are not sure what to think about her chest fluid output. Her total for the day was 2 from the left and 7 from the right, for a total of 9cc’s at 2pm. So once again, they are not draining. Is it due to the decrease in octreotide medicine from 10ml to 7ml? Is one of the tubes clogged again and needing replacement? We are not sure.

All is perfect in His timing. Thanks again for your continued prayers.