Great news today! Luke is doing well and has been stable without any major problems since late Thursday night. His steroids will be finished soon and the doctors are hopeful but very concerned. His lungs have cleared up a little, but if these steroids did not bring improvement, there is only one other kind of steroid they can give him as a last resort. He is just too small and his lungs in such bad shape that if any infection or breathing issues return, it will be time to sit down, hear the options and make some incredibly tough decisions.
Since being put on the oscillator Thursday night, Luke has done VERY well. His oxygen has been weaned down from 100% to 60% without any dramatic changes in pulse and heart rate. This is the point at which Luke usually crashes and has to go back to 100% oxygen, which stabilizes him but is very bad for his lungs. This time, Luke is hanging in there and yesterday was moved out of isolation and back in the same pod as Jack!
Luke is being taken off the oscillator today and will be put on a conventional ventilator (easier on his lungs than the high-frequency vent he had been on). If all goes well, Luke will probably get a TPT tube tomorrow to start feedings. His IV fluids are keeping him stable, but without feedings, Luke really cannot grow and begin to heal. Because of his past episodes, he has been on paralytics to stop muscle movement and keep him from trying to breathe over the vent/oscillator. The feeding tube cannot be put in until the paralytics stop, and hopefully tomorrow will be the day!
Jack continues to do great. All of the grandparents have been able to hold him for the first time this weekend. He is tolerating increased feedings and will have his feeding tube pulled from his intestines up into his stomach to prepare him for real feedings.
Thursday and Friday were bad days, but things have changed incredibly during the weekend. Thanks to Bobby Hamilton, our campus pastor at New Life Church, for making a special mention about Luke to the entire church as he closed in prayer Saturday night. I also want to thank David Martindale, one of the mighty prayer warriors of our church, for visiting the boys yesterday to pray over them. His words were very comforting and encouraging.
We want to thank everyone for their continued prayers. Please continue to lift them up as the next few days are still very critical to Luke's survival and continued improvement.
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