David’s big goal today was to get some fluid off in the hopes that his chest can be closed tomorrow. It has not been successful, so it seems very unlikely that his chest will be closed tomorrow. He still has overnight to make some progress, but probably not enough if he does make any headway.
However, David is on just about the maximum diuretic that he can be on, and not peeing very much. Especially not the amount they would like to see him at. This is slightly worrisome, so this evening they asked for an ultrasound to check on his kidneys to make sure they are functioning and nothing is obstructing them, and also to check fluid buildup in his abdomen. The kidney results came in a few minutes ago – David’s kidneys are slightly enlarged, but there are no blockages and they appear to be functioning normally. That’s a relief, but they will continue to be monitored. Also, no kidney stones. He has a small volume of fluid buildup in his abdomen, which may be from his liver function on Friday.
This leads into the next thing. When David’s liver numbers were through the roof, they put together some cultures to check for an infection. Today one of the cultures started to show a bacterial infection from his breathing tube. This could also explain the liver numbers. His antibiotics were changed once this particular infection was known since he was on an antibiotic which covers lots of things, but now switched to two antibiotics that do a better job on focusing on that particular bacteria.
David also had some x-rays today to check on his abdomen. He had some blood in his stool yesterday, and then his feeds were stopped. So they wanted to check to see if the blood was caused by something that would be a concern. Luckily the x-ray came back that there was no concern and he just has some gas build up. David also had an ultrasound on his left leg since there had been some discussion over why his leg is cold and hard to find a pulse. He has a clot in that leg, but it is non-obstructive (unlike the clot in his right leg). If I’m reading the notes properly, he has non-obstructive clots in the left leg in both the vein and artery. His arterial line is also in that leg, which is also creating a slow flow in that leg.
Otherwise, David still likes to keep his nurses on their toes. He will need to be paced for a while, and then later start competing with his pacer so it needs to be shut off. Or he’ll have low blood pressures, so they will make adjustments, and then later have high blood pressures. I guess that’s why he’s in the ICU, so he can get the attention he still needs.
Once the older kids arrived this after, I took them to the Endzone. We started off with some sports activities before switching to toys. We didn’t stay much past dinner today, because they really needed to get home for a bath before we ran out of time.
Prayers for a peaceful night sleep Jessica and Adam; I’m sure that Eli and Anna will sleep well 💤 Prayers for David that progress will happen as expected and tests will be more positive as planned…..🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Thanks for the updates and pictures. Glad David has his stuffies in reach! Praying for good sleep for you all (Anna and Eli look ready!), and for healing for David, that the antibiotics get rid of this infection, that his blood pressure can be stable, and that he can lose enough fluids to let them close his chest when the time is right. We pray for the doctors as they use these tests and procedures to make decisions for his care, and pray for those great nurses to rest so they’re ready to keep up with David ❤️
Love the picture of Anna and Eli … so cute in their matching jammies 💕 My prayers continue for comfort and strength for David, you and Adam, Eli and Anna. And for insight for the medial team to continue to meet and resolve all the challenges that David throws their way.
Praying he is continuing to improve. Cute pictures of Eli and Ana.