Sunday, April 25, 2010

Here we go.... AGAIN....

So... Most of you know that we have been at Childrens again since last Wednesday... We had brought James into the ER in Delta for bleeding out of his G-tube early afternoon on Tuesday, the doc in the ER called the pediatric surgeon in Grand Junction and he told us it was totally normal, usually caused by some type of stomach irritation. Later that night he was having trouble breathing so we brought him back into the ER, by 5am he was doing much better, so they sent us home. By 8:30am, we knew he was MUCH worse, we hooked him up to the pulse ox machine at home and his oxygen sats were in the high 70s to low 80s. So we immediately took him back to the ER.

James was originally sent here with what they thought was pneumonia again. Both of his lungs were completely full of fluid when they took an xray in the ER at Delta Hospital... The doc in the ER called over the hospital pediatrician and our "secondary physician," Dr. Moore. When she came in the room she immediately told the respiratory therapist to do 2 more breathing treatments, he had just finished one called a duo-neb. It is called that because it has two forms of medication in it... So he took 3 duonebs one right after the other. He was still struggling SO hard to breathe. His little belly was moving in and out so fast he looked like a humming bird. :(

She knew immediately that something needed to be done and was on the phone to have us transferred right away... When the flight care team arrived at Delta Hospital they immediately sedated him and put him on a ventilator because the levels of CO2 in his blood were extremely high. This meant that, although his blood was circulating, it was not getting re-oxygenated correctly and he was pretty much suffocating. Watching them put the tube in to help him breathe has been the HARDEST thing I've experienced with all of his medical problems.

Since being at Children's they have realized that his lungs are full of fluid, not because of pneumonia, but because of the bleed he had (which we are still unsure where it originated from), his heart was working extra hard (especially since he has cardiomyopathy), and when the blood wasn't reoxygenating, it was backing fluid up into his lungs....

They tried to do some pressure testing today, which means, they take him off of the ventilator for an hour to see how well he can breathe on his own. He failed both times they tried today and only lasted about 30 minutes on his own. The second time they tried he ended up having seizures from being so stressed out. So they are going to let him rest and they might try again tomorrow. I will try to keep everyone posted as the days pass and he does come off the ventilator, but for now, keep those prayers coming!!! Love to all...

Joe & Nichole

5 comments:

  1. This just breaks my heart for you and your family. I will have him in my prayers and have the local churches in Oklahoma praying too.

    Love ya

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  2. Aww, I feel so bad for James having to go through all this....Keep your chin up and let me know if there is anything that we can do for you guys...Keeping you all in our prayer.... Huggs, Nicole Hunt

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  3. I remember that same moment ... watching my son get intubated. I know that this is the worst medical experience any parent can endure. I am soooo sorry that you and Joe are going through this right now. We are all sending so many prayers your way and I hope that James is able to breath "normally" again soon. Much love.

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  4. God bless Baby James!

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  5. Hi Nichole. I just wanted to tell you I've been thinking about you lately. I hope things are going well and you guys are always in my prayers.
    Kirsten

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