It was a very relaxed day, per his nurse Ryan this evening. His lung X-ray this morning looked better overall. Seth had an ultrasound done on his right arm this afternoon because it appeared more swollen than the left, They did an ultrasound and found a clot that they need to monitor. As a response, they will start him on IV blood thinners. They will start at low dose, and then do a CT scan to see how it is affecting the brain.
Dr. Malakoff from neurology came and held his fingers in front of Seth’s eyes to see if he would blink. Seth blinked the first time, but on subsequent attempts, he only gave a partial or weak blink. The doctor wasn’t sure if that was a true response. He eventually deemed it a non-response at this point.
Seth’s eyelids are open like normal right now. He’s also grinding his teeth a lot. They gave him pain medication earlier to see if it was due to discomfort, but he continued to grind his teeth. The nurse said he can’t wear a mouth guard due to the risk of swallowing it.
His kidneys are working well. Today, he’s putting out almost too much urine again, so they gave him some albumin earlier and again tonight. If his fluid volumes get too low, it affects the ECMO machine.
Yesterday was the best day for his blood pressures, but today they’ve been chasing them again. He’s on 3–4 blood pressure medications to help keep them lower.
His tidal volumes are much better on the ventilator today, upwards of 313 tonight. There isn’t a max target for this number, as long as his blood gases and oxygen levels are good. His “sweeps” on the ECMO machine are down to 4 now (they were at 6.5 two nights ago). This is all positive and part of the process of weaning him off the ECMO.
It’s gonna be a good night. I told Seth, “Jesus loves you.”
-Aunt Kerry
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