Wiley Day + More Bugs

Today kept us on our toes. My sweet Bubs is gaining tolerance to his sedatives (versed, morphine, and precedex). This meant that Ethan did his very best to try and wake up today, which we do NOT want him to do yet as it's just not safe since he is still intubated. Unfortunately, we had to up his sedatives in order to keep him asleep and add methadone and ativan in order to help counteract any withdrawal symptoms he would have once weaned off of the sedatives/pain meds. Once his cocktail was finally fixed, he's been resting comfortably since. 

*WARNING- poop talk coming*

Two things that I never thought I would see were done over the past couple of days. 

1. Rectal Pouch. It's exactly what it sounds like- a bag to catch poop that was connected to a collection bag like used for urinary catheters. 
2. Flexi-Seal. Click on the link if you dare. It will be better for the protection of his skin as he already has a bed sore on his booty.

Thankful to our consumption of Juice Plus for keeping him "moving" even on heavy sedatives and pain killers that are notorious for causing constipation.

*OK, poop talk over*

Two more bugs grew from his culture: 

Enterobacter cloacae Complex
Pseudomonas aeruginosa

So far, the Zosyn is enough of an antibiotic so nothing really changed with treatment with the two new bugs added.

Fever: It's still there. He is also busting out in random sweats, so they are "trending" the fever. An esophageal probe was placed to get an accurate temp.

Lung fluid: It's still there. Chest x-ray today looked like yesterday's. If that doesn't come off, he will need to have the lung tap that I wrote about yesterday.

Vent: his PEEP was taken down to 10 and they hope to get it lower overnight. He's also still on 30% oxygen.

If he continues to do well with the lower settings on the vent, then he will be given propofol and taken off of the other meds since propofol has a lower "shelf life" in the system. Then, if all goes well and he is well enough to take off of the vent, that will be done on Wednesday.

He's doing well, but those bugs are pretty serious bastards. He is not out of the woods yet, but it's looking promising.

CORA: She is super struggling. She did not want Scott to leave her at school today and Ann Marie (my friend who has been caring and loving on Cora since Ethan's surgery last week) says that she had more "sad moments" today, but that she was able to distract her. 

I haven't said thank you in a while and I'm sorry for that. Thank you to everyone who has prayed, visited, brought us food, answered the call for a salt lamp, lent JP vineyard...and, a special huge thank you to our surgeon and his staff, our nurses- OMG, the best!, our attending physicians, our respiratory therapists, and anyone else that is making this event the most comfortable possible. They care and they're listening; we've been very happy with our care. THANK YOU!!!

SIDE NOTE that's funny... 
We are low on Juice Plus Vineyard (Berries) because I've been giving Ethan so much and my shipment won't be here for a bit, so I reached out to some who I know have connections that may be able to help. I am surrounded by some of the most amazingly supportive people. My awesome team leader, my Mama Bird Sherry, has shipped us some but it won't be here until Wednesday. My amazing friend, Katie, has a bottle that we could use and we can just replenish her when our shipment comes. The only thing that was complicating was that Katie lives in Greensboro and I live in Winston-Salem. So, I pulled together some friends to get it to me. It's like I ran my own courier service today and that one bottle of Juice Plus has been all over like a piece of lost luggage, but I will have it tomorrow morning! LOL!

Katie → Kristen → Sonji → My house → Amy (neighbor) → Me at the hospital

If that doesn't show how important it is for Ethan to have his JP,  I am not sure what does! You should get you some! Just sayin'... ;)

Until next update...