THURSDAY PM

Wow, do I feel so much better after getting some rest! My brain feels like it is working again and I am actually able to process information...which was not happening yesterday! Dr. Raff even told me to go take a shower yesterday! I thought it was hilarious and asked him if I really looked that bad. He just said that I looked the way he felt. He has always been honest with me, so I'm sure he will be happy to see I am rested and have gotten that shower. :) Monty is off getting his rest and will be back in the morning.

Right before I left, alarms started beeping and there was a rush of activity. However, it was good news....Faith's heart has kicked in and is beating at a good rate ON ITS OWN!!!!! This is very exciting and it has continued throughout the day without a drop in her blood pressure. They have kept the pacer on, but it will only kick in if her rate drops below a certain level. Go Faith!!!

The plan for tonight is on the more aggressive side. We have a new doctor on board tonight with a fresh perspective. I like his plan because we have got to get her organs to start doing their job! Time is of the essence to ensure recovery. Faith looks like a marshmallow, she is incredibly puffy due to fluid retention. Her abdomen keeps getting larger and they have talked about the possibility of adding another drain for fluid in that area. So to work on this problem, they are going to cut her vasopressin dosage in half. Vasopressin is a blood pressure medication that can have a negative effect on your kidneys. Faith is retaining all this fluid and not having urine output, so this is the first step in solving this. After two hours of tolerating it, they will turn this medication off. This is in hopes that she can maintain her blood pressure while getting her kidneys to do their job of urine output. If Faith is able to have this medication discontinued and there is still not much improvement in the outflow of fluids, the Dr. will start a drip of the diuretic Lasix. All of this fluid retention is creating pressure on her organs and we have to address it ASAP!!

Her saturation levels remain good and they are able to lower her oxygen vent settings from 100% to 70%. They are still giving her nitric oxide every 2 hours. Her ammonia levels remain high, but are starting to lower, but still may need some medication help to flush it out. Bleeding is at normal post-op output. They are continuing with steriods and a few antibiotics as precautionary measures.

Neurologically, there is not much change with the exception of producing a cough when they suctioned her earlier. We were really happy with that! Her pupils are still responding to light, however extremely slowly. But, they are responding. We'll take it!

At this point, there are a few good things happening, but we have to be careful about how excited we get because she is still a very sick little girl. She remains in a critical state and we need to take things hour by hour. The main thing is though.........she is still here and she is still fighting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep up the prayers. I know they are helping!!!