06.22.08
Posted in Logan at 1:50 am by lance
Lots has happened since our last update . . . here’s a summary of what’s been going on with Logan . . .
After recovering from the surgery to close his PDA vessel (which happened last week Tuesday), Logan had several good days in a row. His blood pressure improved & they were able to take him off of his Dopamine (the medication to help stabilize his blood pressure). We were all relieved to see that the surgery, despite how rough it was on him, really seemed to help Logan to improve.
Things were going smoothly until this past Monday . . . out of nowhere, Logan decided to have a yucky day. Aunty Nadine (one of his nurses) called it a “punky” day. Something was definitely bothering Logan & he was not a happy camper. His blood pressure dropped & stayed pretty low, which made the doctors decide to start him on Dopamine again. He started on a low dose, but by Monday night he was up to 20 (the highest dose). He also had some swelling on his neck, chest, & back (all on his right side).
This setback took us by surprise because he seemed to be doing so well after his surgery. His doctors began to suspect that his problems were being caused by his PICC line . . . they thought that his PICC line was leaking fluid into his body. Initially, they were giving him the Dopamine through his PICC line . . . once they began to suspect that it was not working properly, they decided to switch it to his IV. Unfortunately for Logan, he needed a new IV for this because he was already getting Morphine through his existing IV. Aunty Nadine worked hard to get a new IV going, which left Logan with no limbs free. :o( Ouch.
In addition to moving his Dopamine to an IV, they also gave Logan a dose of Hydrocortizone to help him deal with the stress his body was going through. One of those things seemed to do the trick . . . by Tuesday afternoon, they were able to take him off the Dopamine completely.
On Tuesday, the nurses removed his PICC line. On Wednesday, they did an ultrasound of his chest to look at the fluid surrounding his lungs. Since the swelling was starting to go down, they decided not to use a needle to drain the fluid from his chest . . . doing so would have been too risky since the pocket of fluid was small.
Wednesday was another hard day for Logan because Aunty Janice & Aunty Pamela tried to replace his PICC line . . . they worked on him for 2 1/2 hours, without any luck. While they were working on him, his 2 existing IVs infiltrated & had to be replaced. They got a new IV started in his right arm & were forced to start another IV on the top of his head.
Getting a new PICC line started was the #1 priority . . . they use this line to give Logan his Hyperal (his main source of nutrition) because the Hyperal is too harsh for his IV. Without his PICC line, they had to reduce the nutritional content of his Hyperal to allow it to be administered through his IV. Aunty Delight tried again on Thursday to put in a new PICC line, but was also unsuccessful. We’re proud to say that through all of this, Logan was a real trooper!
Since the 2 attempts had failed, Logan’s last option was to have a Broviac catheter placed in his chest. On Friday morning, Dr. Johnson (a pediatric surgeon) came to Logan’s bedside to surgically implant the catheter. The procedure lasted about 45 minutes & Logan pulled through without too many problems. His Broviac was placed on the left side of his chest . . . hopefully this catheter will last him until he outgrows it.
Logan now has a Broviac catheter in his chest, an IV in his head & right arm, and an Arterial line in his left foot . . . this leaves his left hand & his right foot free (although his aunties do have to put his pulse ox sensor on one of those 2 limbs). Logan LOVES having his left hand back . . . he can finally touch his face again, which makes him quite happy. The other day, he had his thumb in his ear! :o) Although the IV in his head looks horrible, it’s actually okay because it frees up his hand . . . plus, it doesn’t seem to bother him too much.
Although it seems like a lot of bad things have been happening, Logan did tackle one huge obstacle . . . on Friday, after his Broviac procedure, the doctors decided to put him back on the Jet ventilator!! This was what we have all been anxiously waiting for . . . on the Jet, Logan can work on growing bigger without having to worry about too much damage to his lungs (since the Jet is a much gentler system than the Oscilator). He also has more freedom to move while on the Jet (because the tubing is much more flexible) & can actually face the front of his isolette! It’s now much easier to see his little face! :o) We’re hoping that Logan doesn’t decide to abuse his new-found freedom & move around soo much that he gets himself into trouble. Mommy, Daddy, & all of his aunties & uncles in the NSCU are keeping a close eye on this little monkey!
Whew . . . that was a looong update. In case you haven’t checked out Logan’s website recently, Lance uploaded new pictures for his third week.
http://logan.shinsato.info/logans-third-week/
Thanks again to everyone for all of the positive vibes you’ve all been sending our way . . . Logan is a fighter, but he can definitely use all of the positive energy you’ve been sharing with him!
By the way . . . today is Sunday, June 22nd & Logan is officially 3 weeks old!
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06.20.08
Posted in Logan at 11:10 pm by lance
Logan moved back to the jet ventilator today!!! Woo Hoo!!!
He was moved back to the jet vent right after his broviac surgery and while he was still knocked out. They just snuck him onto the vent without telling him. 
Moving from the oscillator ventilator to the jet ventilator has been a while coming… They were planning on moving him earlier in the week, but then he ran into all this trouble with his central line, which took precedence over the vent move. We’re all – including the doctors and nurses – very happy to see him finally back on the jet vent. This vent is a lot gentler on his system and the doctors are comfortable with him biding his time on this vent while he develops and grows stronger.
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Posted in Logan at 5:27 pm by lance
So Logan has once again gone under the knife… This time he needed to have a central line inserted. On Monday, Logan was having blood pressure issues and swelling on his right side (neck, chest, and side). By Tuesday, the doctors suspected that his PICC line might be the cause of some of his issues, so they had it removed. The problem is that he really needs this central line.
On Wednesday, Aunty Janice and Aunty Pam tried for over 2-1/2 hours to restart a new PICC line, but they were unable to get one started. In the process, his 2 existing IVs infiltrated. They were able to get 1 restarted in his arm, but had to put the second one in his head.
On Thursday, Aunty Delight tried once more to start a PICC line, but was again unsuccessful.
On Friday at around 11:00, Logan had a surgery to insert a Broviac catheter. He handled the surgery fairly well and was able to bounce back fairly quickly, unlike the last surgery.
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06.17.08
Posted in Logan at 10:35 pm by lance
Poor Logan!!!
Logan wasn’t having a very good day today. His blood pressure kept dropping and he needed to be put back on dopamine. Because of this, Aunty Nadine needed to get a 2nd IV started. This means that Logan now has something in each limb:
- Left Arm – PICC line
- Right Arm – 1st IV
- Left Leg – Arterial line
- Right Leg – 2nd IV
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06.13.08
Posted in Logan at 5:23 pm by lance
here’s a quick update on logan . . .
he had a rough time after his surgery on tuesday. he didn’t like being on his side during the surgery, nor did he like it when the doctor had to deflate his lung. it took him about 3 hours on 100% oxygen support to reinflate his lung. his nurses gave him a paralyzing drug on the day of his surgery & the day after to keep him still. as you all know, he loves to wiggle & squirm around . . . the doctors & nurses like that he’s active, but it was a problem after surgery! thankfully, the drug allowed him to remain still & let his body recover from the trauma of the surgery. the next day was a little better for him, but still pretty tough. he’s doing well now . . . the past 2 days have been pretty good for him. they’ve been able to go down on the settings on his ventilator & he’s down to about 45% oxygen support. our next goal is to get him off the oscilator vent & back onto the jet ventilator, which is much gentler on his lungs. once he’s back on the jet, they’ll keep him on it until his lungs are strong enough to take his breathing tube out. hopefully, once he’s off the ventilator, we’ll finally be able to hold him.
another positive step is that they’ve started to feed him breast milk again today. he got 1cc of milk at noon today . . . when they suctioned his stomach, there was no traces of the milk, so he seems to have digested it well. his nurse gave him another 1cc at 4 pm. they’re starting real slow with the milk because they’re trying to prime his digestive system . . . if they gave him too much too early, it may just freak his body out a little too much. if he continues to tolerate the 1cc of milk every 4 hours, they’ll gradually start to increase the amount he gets. hopefully once he’s finally able to start drinking more milk, he’ll be able to start growing & gaining real weight (his weight gain/loss up till this point has all been due to fluid gain/loss).
to sum it all up . . . logan continues to hang in there. he’s finally starting to take a few more baby steps in the right direction. he’s strong & is fighting very hard to recover from his rough start. we love him so much & continue to be amazed by his will to survive. we have our good days & our bad days, but we’re staying positive. we agreed to only allow positive energy whenever we’re with logan . . . we save all the worries for when we’re at home. logan’s obviously not giving up, so we’re not about to give up on him either. we believe in his strength & know that he’ll be home with us soon.
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06.10.08
Posted in Logan at 6:30 pm by lance
At a little over a week old, Logan had to have his first surgery today. For the last week, the doctors have been trying to close the PDA valve in Logan’s heart with medication. After two rounds of medication – each consisting of 3 doses spread 24 hours apart – the valve closed a lot, but it was still not completely closed, so they decided the best thing to do was go in surgically and close it off.
Logan didn’t really like the surgery. They had to put him on his side and deflate his left lung in order to gain the most access to the PDA valve. Because of this the nurses had to increase his ventilator settings and bump his oxygen support to 100% for about 3 hours after the surgery. Once he got over this initial hump, though, they were able to ween him back down to his normal levels. We’re hoping that this surgery will really kick-start his recovery process.
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06.07.08
Posted in Logan at 2:52 pm by lance
Here’s our premature birth announcement for our premature miracle . . .
Announcing the newest member of the Shinsato family . . .
Logan Kichio Shigemi Shinsato
Sunday, June 1, 2008
12:30 p.m. (or sometime around there!)
1 lb 4.8 oz.
11 3/4 in.
Yes, we know it’s a mighty long name for such an itty bitty baby . . . we just couldn’t decide which of our grandpas we wanted to name him after, so we decided to go with both of them! Logan is such a special miracle so we felt that he deserved a special name. Kichio is for Grandpa Mukai (Lance’s maternal grandpa) . . . Grandpa Mukai was such a rascal & very stubborn. At 6 days old, Logan is already showing a lot of Grandpa Mukai in him! Shigemi is for Grandpa Jinbo (Kim’s paternal grandpa) . . . Grandpa Jinbo was also a rascal with a mean stubborn streak. We see lots of Grandpa Jinbo in Logan too!
As many of you already know, Logan has proven himself to be a fiesty one since day one. He was very active in the womb & gave every ultrasound technician a workout whenever they tried to do an exam! He hated the fetal monitor that I was hooked up to & kicked at it constantly. From the moment he was born, he was already letting everyone know that he was a fighter. The doctors had plastic covering him to keep the moisture on his skin . . . he didn’t like it one bit & tried to push it off. Every nurse who’s taken care of him has commented on how active & alert he is. They try to sneak their hands into his isolette to work on him without him knowing, but he’s always on to them! He has NO problems letting his nurses know when he doesn’t like something. He’s also discovered the joys of sucking on a pacifier & has learned to soothe himself with it. One of the pictures we’ve included shows him sucking on it. It’s covered by a strip of gauze . . . one of his nurses created the pacifier strap to help keep it in place because Logan would get mad whenever it fell out of his mouth!
Logan continues to amaze us every day. He takes baby steps towards recovery, but also has his setbacks. We’re trying to stay positive & celebrate each milestone he makes. We’re also trying not to freak out whenever he has a setback. We know the next few months will be full of milestones & setbacks so we’re trying to prepare ourselves for that. His biggest problem right now is the immaturity of his lungs . . . our next big hurdle is to wean him off of the ventilator that supports his breathing. But for right now, he’s pretty stable & is hanging in there.
Our life will be centered on Logan and the NSCU (Newborn Special Care Unit) for the next few months. Logan is eager to meet all of you, so if you’re ever in the area, give us a call. We can take one visitor in at a time. We want Logan to meet all of you so that he knows how much he’s already loved. We can’t use our cell phones in the NSCU so you’ll need to give us a heads up if you’re planning to visit. Call us at home or on our cells and leave a message for us . . . we’ll definitely get back to you to set up a visit.
We’re anxiously awaiting each new milestone . . . we can’t wait to hold Logan for the first time. We also look forward to taking on more responsibilities as his parents . . . changing his diaper, taking his temperature, feeding him, etc. And we’ll continue to keep the ultimate prize in mind . . . bringing him home! He’ll need to get much bigger & stronger if he wants to keep up with Koko, Beamer, & Irwin!
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06.02.08
Posted in Logan at 5:00 pm by lance
Kim spent the night in the Adult ICU, so that the nurses could keep a closer eye on her just in case her low platelet count or high blood pressure caused any problems.
Today is Kim’s first chance to see Logan. It’s amazing what a motivating force a little 1lb. 4oz. baby can be…
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Posted in Logan at 1:51 pm by lance
The paparazzi (Aunty Lisa – utopia Photography) showed up today and took a whole bunch of pictures of Logan.Â
We’re very lucky to have not one, but two professional photographers in the family. We think that Logan will be the most photographed person in the NSCU.
Lisa… Thank you soooo much!!!
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06.01.08
Posted in Logan at 3:00 pm by lance
IT’S A BOY!!!
Well, our little one came a little bit earlier than we had expected. I guess he just couldn’t wait to meet everyone. Here’s his information:
Logan Kichio Shigemi Shinsato
Born: June 1, 2008 at approximately 12:30pm
Gestational Age: 26 weeks (40 weeks is full term)
Location: Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children
Weight: 1lb. 4.8oz.
Length: 11-3/4in.
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