Afternoon Update: Clamp Off Trial at 3 PM

Good news: Jude was put on an oscillatory ventilator (i.e. the "oscillator") this morning around 8:15 am, and he has responded very well to it! Praise God!

Since going on the oscillator, the medical staff have been able to turn down Jude's ECMO settings considerably. One exciting thing: The oscillator appears to have greatly helped Jude blow off his carbon dioxide, and his blood gas results have been very encouraging. As yet, the medical staff still don't have an answer for why Jude's pulmonary edema suddenly and unexpectedly worsened within a 2-hour period yesterday evening. Mechanical failure of his CVVH (hemofiltration) unit on the ECMO circuit was ruled out, and, so far, blood cultures testing for infection have come back negative. Hopefully, Jude will continue to improve as the day wears on and the reason for his recent downturn will be moot.

So, what's the plan?

At 3 pm this afternoon, Jude will be clamped off from the ECMO circuit for a trial that will probably last around 2 hours. During that time, he will be completely disconnected from ECMO -- he will be getting his support exclusively from the oscillator. He'll also have an echocardiogram while he's clamped off, which will give us the clearest picture we've had in a long time of his heart function and his pulmonary hypertension.

Based on Jude's performance during this clamp off trial, he could potentially be decannulated later this evening! If he doesn't do particularly well, then he'll remain on ECMO and the medical staff will try to identify what needs to be done help Jude get off bypass.

Jude is also getting a chest x-ray at 3 pm, which will reveal how successful the oscillator and other measures have been in helping to inflate his lungs.

Please pray with us that the trial at 3 pm goes well and that we can move to decannulation tonight! Praise God for Jude's positive response so far today! We'll update you all as we move forward!