His PIE leak resolved but then another developed which suggests continued scarring of the lungs. He's also developed a pneumothorax in his right lung which is causing difficulty in treating the PIE. Right now they have him laying on his left side, but they warned us that if the lung collapses as they want it to, then he will be extremely unstable while his body recovers. But right now I watched him struggle at 90% oxygen with both lungs.
The x-rays have been hazy, indicating there is fluid in the lungs. They are keeping him off IV fluids and giving him Lasiks which is a diuretic to pull some of that out.
The site of the IV infiltrate will not have long term damage, but they've lost it as a site for IV for now.
His IVH bleed hasn't changed, which is good news. No blood has physically touched brain tissue, so they are optimistic.
Because he hasn't eaten yet, they are very worried about infection in his intestine. He has no "good" enzymes developed yet because my milk would have stimulated their creation, and they can't feed him yet because of the medication he has been on. So it's another wait and see.
They also tell us he will likely suffer ROP.. Which is a form of detachment of the retina from high doses of oxygen. He may need glasses, or he might just be blind. We won't know for awhile on that either.
She mentioned he is at greater risk for pulmonary hypertension and he will most definitely likely suffer from chronic lung disease at this point.
She also said we are still between morbidity and mortality. That we are still in danger of his stats being unstable and him taking a turn for the worse. He's a fighter, and constantly wiggling, which is good. But they give him Versed and morphine to calm him. Versed, if I spelled that right, is what they give to surgery patients who have anxiety before a procedure. So he's at least feeling pretty dang happy.
Please pray for us. She is being blunt and honest, but it still was very sobering to know we are still in a dangerous statistic zone.
Picture of the little guy doing a leg lift!
Much love,
Rachel and Joshua
