07.07.08

Another Bad Day

Posted in Logan at 11:30 pm by kimi

What a scary weekend we had! It all started out so nicely with the 4th of July holiday on Friday . . . Lance & I enjoyed spending time with Logan, just holding hands (see our post below). By late Saturday night, however, things started going downhill. When we left Logan for the night on Saturday, he seemed fine. Sally was his nurse that night . . . she’s worked for many years in the NSCU but has never taken care of Logan before. Poor Sally . . . her first time caring for Logan & he decides to have the biggest fit of his little life!

Throughout the night on Saturday, Logan’s oxygen requirements kept increasing. Soon, he was on 100% oxygen support (something he hasn’t needed in a looong time). His carbon dioxide level in his blood was also increasing. The doctors made the decision to switch him back to the Jet ventilator in the hopes that the Jet would be able to help Logan blow off some of the carbon dioxide. Once on the Jet, Logan just kept getting worse.

On Sunday morning, Dr. Neal (the neonatologist in charge of Logan’s team) decided to put Logan back onto the oscillator. As we were on our way into the hospital, Dr. Neal called us & told us that he wanted to meet with us as soon as we got there . . . never a good thing! When we arrived at Logan’s isolette, we were shocked to see his oxygen saturation level in the 30s (he should be in the 90s). Another upsetting thing was his vent settings . . . we had never seen them so high.

Dr. Neal met with us & explained Logan’s situation as best as he could. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any answers as to why Logan was doing so poorly . . . all he could tell us was that they were doing everything they could to save him. Things were looking pretty grim at that point, since nothing they had tried so far had much success. Dr. Neal asked us to try to be positive while at Logan’s bedside so that he would feel our strength . . . that was one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to do, given how frightened & worried we both were. We spent several minutes in the conference room, crying & holding onto each other. Neither of us could bear the thought of losing our precious little boy.

We spent the rest of the day at Logan’s bedside, willing him to have enough strength to pull through this crisis. Luckily, we weren’t alone . . . our parents, Jen, Hugh, Dana, Megan, Sandy, & Mika were all there with us. Lance & I stayed with Logan the whole time, watching helplessly as the doctors & nurses did everything they could to keep our baby alive. We talked to Logan a lot & kept telling him how strong & brave he was.

By late Sunday afternoon, Dr. Ash (who had taken over for Dr. Neal for the night) made the decision to switch Logan from the oscillator to a conventional ventilator. Thankfully, Logan seemed to like his new vent & started to show some improvement. After a loong day of using everything in their arsenal to save Logan, all of their hard work finally paid off. Logan’s oxygen saturation level was finally back in the 90s, his carbon dioxide level was decreasing, & he was resting comfortably under the influence of Pavulon (the dreaded paralyzing drug that he hates).

Although we didn’t want to leave Logan, the emotionally draining day had left us exhausted & in desperate need of some rest. Thanks to Dara & Erik (who graciously offered their apartment to us whenever we needed it), we were able to get about 4 hours of sleep, while only being 5 minutes away from the hospital. When we left Logan at midnight, he was relatively stable, but his vent settings were still quite high, he was still getting 100% oxygen, and he was receiving nitric oxide (to help relax the blood vessels in his lungs). Although leaving Logan that night was extremely difficult, we were relieved to know that Aunty Kassie was there to take care of our little one.

After our much needed nap, we were back at Logan’s bedside by 5:30 this morning. While we were resting, the doctors had started to wean Logan’s vent settings & nitric oxide. We stayed with him until shift change & rounds at 7 a.m. Since he was still pretty stable, we decided to run home & gather some things (just in case he decided to have another fit). We also packed up the dogs & dropped them off in Kaneohe . . . they’ve been soo neglected lately, so they were thrilled to be back at Grandma & Grandpa’s house! :o)

We are happy to report that Logan remained stable throughout the day!

We did receive one bit of good/bad news . . . one of Logan’s blood cultures showed that he does have an infection. It’s good news because we at least have a reason for his fit yesterday & the doctors now have something specific to treat . . . it’s bad news because it’s an infection (something that his itty bitty body really doesn’t need right now). We’re all crossing our fingers that the antibiotics he’s getting will help him to get rid of the infection quickly.

Sunday was definitely the most difficult day for us since Logan was born. We’re exhausted, both emotionally & physically. That’s it for now . . . we’re pooped & we’re off to bed.

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