Good news and bad news

Aren’t they beautiful?  My friend Barb brought them…along with some yummy goodies to get me through the next few days.  I have been so blessed by the people who have stepped up and helped out. 

Last night I stayed at the RMH (Ronald McDonald House).  I was afraid that I wouldn’t get any sleep because of how worried I would be about Logan.  It is so hard to be away from him.  Even when we went out to dinner last night, my thoughts would always come back  to Logan.  I feel like part of my heart has been taken out of my body and I’m entrusting it to other people to take care of it.  It is literally painful.

But, apparently, my body knew what it needed…and it needed sleep.  I had set the alarm clock so that I could get up and pump in the middle of the night.  I slept through that alarm and eventually woke up about 6:45.  I guess I should be grateful that I got some uninterrupted sleep.  Unfortunately, I am still tired.  I think I probably will be for a while.

When I got to the hospital this morning, the nurse was changing Logan’s diaper.  He pooped again!  And, he opened his eyes again.  It was great to see those eyes.  I don’t think he knew what was going on…after all, he is pretty drugged.  But, the doctor was encouraged that he has been opening his eyes and that he is starting to get uncomfortable with the tube.  It means he is starting to get strong enough to realize that he doesn’t like what is happening to him. 

They are still rotating him every four hours.  He’ll start on his back and then they will flip him to his stomach.  They want to try to minimize the flat head he will get from lying in a bed for so long.  They also want to turn his head from one side to the other so that his neck muscles don’t get stuck in one direction.

The bad news today is that the doctor has decided that he wants to give Logan a blood transfusion.  Yesterday, Logan’s hemoglobin levels actually went up from 7.4 to 7.9.  This morning they were down to 7.1.  It isn’t at a dangerous level, but it is going in the wrong direction.  They are hoping that the transfusion will give his body an extra boost.  His body won’t have to exert as much energy trying to produce red blood cells and can focus on fighting off the infection.  The lab is currently typing Logan’s blood and the transfusion should be ready to go shortly.

The good news is that the X-ray this morning showed that Logan’s lungs are clearer than they were yesterday.  That sounds like progress!  They are still maintaining the same treatment schedule (continuous nebulizer, chest PT and lots of suction), but I’m hoping that the improvement will mean we can start to wean him off the ventilator soon. 

Please pray for continued improvement and that the blood transfusion will help bring his hemoglobin levels back up.