Back on the Oscillator - PICU Update # 5

     After last night's post the medical team shared with us that they believed Ethen was fighting a losing battle on the BiPAP. "He's not winning, but he hasn't lost," the doctor said. You can imagine the horror this brought to our hearts... This is a terrible phrase. Don't use it to describe the medical condition of someone's child. To the point, Ethen was not gaining any ground on the BiPAP. The team intubated Ethen around 2:00 a.m. to get him back on the ventilator to try to better regulate Ethen's respirations. The ventilator worked for a couple hours, but after that he was having difficulty ridding his system of carbon dioxide, which was adversely affecting his blood pH.
     Around 6:00 a.m. the team decided to switch Ethen to the oscillator to get a better handle on his blood gases. This helped right away—Ethen's blood gases are in a better place. As you can imagine, we're still very much on edge. We are very close to where we started on Tuesday. Please pray that Ethen's body can maintain good blood gases. Pray that his blood pressure elevates. Pray that God would sustain his little body.