Ella had a stable night and morning so far. At midnight, they flipped her on her back for 8 hours. This morning, she went back to her belly at 8am. They are on a schedule of flipping her back and forth every 8 hours. Although they are giving her an extra initial dose of fetanyl (which is pain medicine that lasts 1-2 hours), she is tolerating both sides for 8 hours at a time.

Nurse Angie is watching over her today and noted that Ella did have one fussy spell this morning around 9:45am. But, she suctioned her airway and gave her calming touch and this seemed to do the trick. Ella peacefully went back to sleep after 5 minutes or so.

Keep in mind that just this past weekend, there were times that nothing seemed to calm her down, not even an extra dose of fetanyl. So the fact that her saturations are returning to good levels on her own without extra meds is a sign that Ella is feeling better.

Her blood oxygen saturations have been between 98-100%. Her blood gas this morning was good, pH level=7.41, cO2=47, pO2=99.

Her urine output yesterday was real good at 265. Last week when we were going into the weekend and she was not doing well, it was low at 143.

The chest tube fluid output for yesterday was 51 between all 3 tubes. Today so far, it has been 16.

Dr. Kays was in briefly and made changes to her vent settings. He lowered her assisted breaths per minute to 70 instead of 80. Also, he lowered the nitric oxide from 4 to 3. She seems to be maintaining well. We will be able to tell when her next blood gas is taken later.

We know that Ella had a chest x-ray this morning. We have not heard those results and whether or not there is a CT scan scheduled.

All we know is that we are trusting the Lord Jesus. He has given us such amazing peace at this time.

Psalm 29:11
11 The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.

Job 22:21-22
21 Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.

22 Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.

UPDATE (4:45pm EST): The nurse practitioner just called a few minutes ago to let us know that Ella had an “episode”. She was on her belly sleeping and suddenly woke up very agitated.

Similar to this morning, Nurse Angie tried to soothe her by suctioning her, giving her a temporary boost in oxygen from the ventilator, comforting her, and even placing her on her back (she had been on her belly for 7 hours).

Her stats were not coming up as they should on her own. They paged Dr. Kays and he asked for a blood gas to be taken. Surprisingly, it was still in the acceptable range with a pH level of 7.33, cO2=58 and pO2=89. This was a good sign.

Since she was not calming down, Dr. Kays ordered for a large dose of fentanyl (equivalent to a surgical dose). That knocked her out and she is sound asleep again.

We know that Dr. Kays does not like to sedate her unless necessary. He wants to be able to ultimately solve the problem of why she is having discomfort. Although we have not talked with him, we think he might just be buying some more time until he figures out the next best steps for Ella.

Please continue to pray that Dr. Kays will be filled with knowledge, wisdom and discernment from our Heavenly Father. Also, that Ella would be comforted and given strength to continue climbing to the mountain top.

James 5:11
As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.