Here we go again

Lawson's doctor called us today to say that one of the blebs had burst and caused a pneumothorax, air in the space outside the lung in the pleural space. They just happened to see it on a routine chest x-ray. Normally this would be a very serious condition that causes the lung to collapse. Since Lawson's left lung is so filled with blebs, (apparently there are hundreds) the lung was inflated by them and did not collapse. So although they're not supposed to be there, they helped him make it through the pneumothorax without having a collapsed lung. His team of doctors was able to go in with a needle and release the trapped air. Unfortunately, it reaccumulated in about 5 minutes. So they have decided to reinstall the left chest tube. This time it will be removing the trapped air instead of fluid. They are not sure if the air that is reaccumulating is air that is being pushed in through the breathing tube or if the other blebs are also bursting. Either way, the chest tube is necessary to deal with the excess air. Dr. Tanaka also pointed out that he was worried that there might be very little 'healthy' lung tissue in the left lung, due to all the blebs. We will have to wait until the blebs have been dealt with before we'll know the answer to that question. They are expecting to have more answers by early next week.

A mixed bag

During our visit today, we received more positive news sprinkled with some cause for concern. I'll start with the GREAT news . . . Since birth, he has been on the High Frequency Jet Ventilator. Basically what we were told is that the 'jet' gives very fast breaths by vibrating air into the lungs more so than helping him breathe. Lawson was getting 420 breaths per minute. It made a loud rhythmic sound and caused his chest to pulsate in a very unnatural way. Because of the 'jet' they have been unable to use a stethescope to listen to his heart/chest and he was unable to practice breathing, among other drawbacks. Early this morning he was switched over to the conventional ventilator, which is a HUGE step in his road to recovery! He will now be able to practice breathing on his own and receive more normal breaths per minute! Other exciting news is that the right chest tube, which was drawing the fluid off the right side of his chest, has been removed. The tube had not produced any fluid for several days, so they believe that all of the fluid is gone and therefore it is safe to remove the tube!

Now on to the causes for concern. He continues to have the 'episodes' and now neurology is involved. He has been hooked up to the EEG machine since last night and they were continuing to follow it. They wanted to let it go for a while so they would have even more data to compare. You know how we all love data! :) This afternoon when we were leaving the hospital, they were transporting him down for a CT scan. The neurologists felt it was important for him to get this test as soon as possible. This in itself is a little risky because he will be off the ventilator all together. One of the respitory technicians will be at his side 'bagging' him, squeezing the bag attached to his breathing tube at the same rate that the conventional ventilator was. The whole procedure should take about 2 hours. We won't have any results until tomorrow, but we'll hear tonight how he did during the transport. Hopefully we'll have more news soon.

No longer on the bench

The nurses show up to work every day and tend to whomever is there unless they have a primary patient. They have the option to choose a primary patient, so that any time they work, that is the baby in their care. We've been waiting for Lawson to have a 'primary nurse' since he arrived in the NICU. All of the nurses we've met so far already had primary patients or were night or weekend only nurses. Eventually we just stopped asking. We had a funny conversation with one of them about how it all works. We joked that Lawson was still sitting on the bench. So he's finally in the game. We found out the Cheri, one of the nurses we LOVE, has chosen Lawson to be her primary patient and we're super excited about it!

We had a wonderfully positive experience at the hospital today. We got a chance to talk with Dr. Goldstein, the attending physician. It's great to talk to the nurses, but really nice to talk to the 'big guy/gal'. She was very upbeat and encouraging. She basically confirmed everything the nurses have said so far and spoke of what a fighter Lawson is. The chest tubes and heart catheter will likely be removed soon. His chest x-rays continue to look good. They are able to pull back on many of the medicines and are continuing the slow process of weaning him off the breathing machine. She brought me to happy tears when she said she thinks he COULD be off the breathing machine in one or two more weeks! That is the first step in making real progress!! At that point they will be able to do more tests, begin to make a diagnosis, and depending on a few other factors, maybe even begin feeding him my breastmilk through a tube into his stomach. Baby steps . . .

No news is good news

We're on our way to the hospital in a few minutes. We wanted to spend a little time with my dad before he headed back home today. My mom is staying until, as she puts it, we kick her out. :) By the way, my dad was given a clean bill of health from his doctor and released with no restrictions. It still makes me nervous for him to drive all by himself, but he refused to let anyone come with him. He says that since he went to the hospital and the doctor said he was fine, he's now more capable than ever to 'handle the trip' since he knows it's not his heart! Hopefully Lawson will be as stubborn as his grandpa!


We called the hospital last night and Lawson's nurse, Lindsey, said everything was stable. They hadn't made any changes in his medications or machines. They were going to do another chest x-ray to check and see if there was any more air around his heart. The catheter hadn't produced any air in a while, so they thought either the air was gone, or the tube was in the wrong place.

When Brian called this morning the nurse said that the morphine seemed to be making him sick, so they've pulled back on the morphine and have moved him to his side. The left chest tube hasn't produced any fluid in several days, so they're planning to remove it today. To us, this is the best news of all because it gets him closer to being able to endure the next level of tests. They have to know what's wrong with him to make him better, but they have to get him stable enough for the tests to find out what's wrong with him. We haven't heard anything about them moving the heart catheter, so according to the nurse, that's good news.