Just Breathe

This afternoon, the doctor decided to extubate Titus off of the ventilator. They were able to extubate him with no problems, but immediately began to check blood gasses to see what his CO2 levels were. They started high (80's), then dropped to 60's for several hours. They took him off of all sedation meds to see how he would do. He rested peacefully, and when I got there several hours later, he was alert, happy, smiling, and squirming. But his CO2 levels began to climb again. Becky and I stepped out while they did chest x-rays and to eat a quick bite in the waiting room. When we came back in, the doctor had examined his chest x-ray and was concerned a bit, so they put Titus on the Bi-Paps ventilator. It's not a breathing tube directly in his lungs, but for those of you with sleep apnea and wear a c-pap to bed, it's very similar.

Titus was not a happy camper. He was very agitated with the breathing mask, and we had to tie his hands down. And, he just wouldn't settle - and he began to cry - but not a sound came out of him mouth, just tears rolling down his cheeks. This broke his father's heart.

I left to pick up Tucker and Cade who were staying at friends, and stopped back off at the hospital to drop off the bouncy seat after it had been cleaned from all the poo. And, it looks like they will be intubating him back on the ventilator. His CO2 levels were back over 90 and he's just not settling on the bi-pap machine.

We know it's a delicate dance - and there are days you make progress, days you don't, and days you regress. It's just difficult when you do all three in a matter of 6 hours. Becky was having a hard time tonight - she's tired after sleeping at the hospital all week, and it hurts her heart to see him struggle. But she did get to hold him today while he was off the vent and I do believe that helped some.

Becky will come home for the weekend, and I'll go spend the weekend up there with Titus - looks like he and I will have our own Super Bowl Party.

Please continue to lift up Titus breathing in your prayers. His lungs need to strengthen, his CO2 levels need to drop (40 is the average), and his blood chemistry needs to balance out. There's still a lot of progress to be made.

Dad will have surgery again tomorrow to repair any damage done by his removing the pins. The doctor seems to think there is minimal damage and it will just be re-inserting the pins. We are praying that Dad has a quick recovery and can be back in rehab center in a few days. Mom is so thankful for the caring nurses and doctors, but is really looking forward to having him closer to home so she doesn't have to drive downtown.

And, we do have one more special request. The day we checked into PICU, another boy checked in from Tyler, Tx. He's 12 and has a serious staph infection running through his body. He has some heart issues and has a pacemaker. Due to the infection, they are performing open heart surgery on him in the morning at 7:30am. Becky and Cherise (his mom) have become quite close over the last two weeks. They are a sweet, Christian family and have been surrounded by their friends from the last two weeks. So in your prayers, please lift up Ethan C. in the morning.