So far today, Collin's liver enzyme number (also called his belli reuben, I don't think the spelling is right) went up to 10.4 from 9.9. That is two days in a row that it has been going up. This is not good because normal is below 1.
We still do not have any response out of Collin's kidneys. His kidneys not responding means that he is okay on the dialysis, but should we take him off the dialysis then he would swell up again, his creatine levels would go up, and he would certainly die as a result. The dialysis is doing the work that his kidneys should be doing, and keeping him from swelling up, having the increased creatine level, and dying. The idea is that the dialysis is supposed to take the stress off the kidneys so they can heal, but they are not healing yet. They are keeping him on a low rate of dialysis because of the liver - they don't want to overload his little system.
This morning when Julie and Heath arrived at the hospital, Collin was awake and moving his head a little. He is asleep now. Heath is there today because we (Julie, Heath and I) are having a meeting with the doctors this afternoon. I will have more to post after that.
The doctors are having PT and OT come in sometime soon to fit Collin's legs and hands for splints. They were holding off last week because of his grim condition, but since we decided to wait a couple of weeks before making a decision, they are moving forward with the splints.
They are still discussing the bladder issue, but for now I think they are going to remove the catheter and do bladder scans on him twice a day to check and see if his bladder is retaining urine again. They do not want to leave the catheter in because of the risk of infection, but they are also concerned about him retaining urine again and causing him discomfort, etc. In the last 24 hours, he has only had 4 ml of urine output, which is an indication of a problem with the kidneys. Further, the urine is very concentrated, dark colored, and acidic, which is a further indication that the urine that is getting to the kidneys is not filtering, it is just passing through - another indication of kidney problems.
They are leaving the vent alone for now. They are doing chest xrays every day again to monitor the pulmonary edema. He still has the pulmonary edema and the fungal infection, and his lungs are still draining fluid through the chest tube. This tells us that is lungs are still producing fluid as a result of the edema and fungal issue. They still have no positive cultures back on the lung fluid, so for now it is a mystery infection, again! Collin is famous for mystery infections!
Collin's bleeding is under control, though he is still bleeding. His platelets are too low today, they are at 71, and they want to keep them around 75. So they are going to work on getting that up today. His skin looks better, but it is still like paper and tears easily, so they are working to keep it healthy with a lot of cream and such. He hasn't developed any new blisters that we know of yet, but neither one of us has seen his back recently (and haven't had time to ask the nurses about it).
They are cutting back on one of his sedatives that they doubled on Friday night because he was agitated. They are leaving his pain medications alone. Collin is comfortable overall, thank goodness. He is still somewhat responsive when he is awake, but the medications make him really sleepy, so he still doesn't wake up much.
His breathing is a little more regulated today than it was yesterday. When he is awake, he is taking a few breaths on his own, but when he is asleep he doesn't breath on his own at all.
The primary concern at this point is still the multi-organ failure. The lungs are somewhat under control, but the kidneys and liver are not. The DNR (do not rescusitate) order is still in place.
Julie also pointed out to me that Collin has been in the hospital for one month today. He will be in ICU for one month (and in the unresponsive state) on March 20th.
I am on my way to the conference with the doctors. I'll put up more after that. Thank you for your support!
Also, please don't forget about Julie and Heath's date night! Their anniversary is on April 3rd, so this could double as their anniversary celebration! Thank you to everyone that has already offered to help or donate!
Love,
Jenn
317-430-0805
jenndwilson83@yahoo.com
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