Friday, January 6, 2012

Pray, pray, pray! (and updates)

Hi friends,
I wanted to ask for your prayers tonight again for Jude. You've all been so faithful to pray for our little guy.
This afternoon (after we left the hospital for the day) we called to check on Jude and see how his blood gases were looking. Jude's gas at around 4:30pm was a little high on the CO2 side...a little concerning but his CO2 can be a little high when he is agitated. Jude's nurse told us that she was going to get another gas at around 6:30pm and that we could call back and find out the results. At 6:30, his CO2 was even higher. Quite concerning. At this point they are not sure why his CO2 is higher but they are working to find out. His most recent x-ray suggests that one of his lungs might have collapsed just a little and that he continues to have the pulmonary edema that has been hanging around for quite some time.

The nurse told us that at this point the plan is:
1. Go up a little bit on his settings on the oscillator to support him a little better.
2. Give another dose of lasix to help get more fluid out of his system.
3. Continue to suction him often because they are getting some secretions from his lungs.

After we put Annabelle to bed Brian decided to head back up to the hospital to get a better picture of what is going on with Jude and to see what the plan seems to be. It's nice to be able to call Jude's nurse and get updates but it is even better to be able to physically be there with him as doctors/specialist visit.

What you can pray for:
1. That Jude's CO2s will go down instead of up. Pray that his gases will return to a healthy place and that they will remain there until surgery on Monday.
2. Pray that his lungs will open up and remain open until surgery on Monday.
3. Pray that all of the measures that the doctors are taking to help Jude with his recent problems will be effective.
4. Pray that Jude will be ready for surgery on Monday.
5. Pray for us as we ride through the many ups and downs that we are facing. We found out this afternoon that Jude's surgery is scheduled for 1:30pm on Monday. We are struggling a little tonight because we feel SO close to Jude's CDH repair and we are hopeful that this is not another major setback.

Please lift Jude up in prayer tonight and please continue to share his story and our prayer requests with your friends and family. We are so thankful for your desire to take your prayers for Jude's little life to our Father.

We will try to update you on Jude's status tonight after Brian gets back from the hospital.

    For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
(Matthew 18:20 ESV)

UPDATES:
8:50pm - Brian just called and let me know that the medical staff is taking all precautions to make sure that they are aware of any problems that may be going on with Jude. They are taking blood cultures to find out if there is any chance of infection. The good news is that the last gas that they took was "beautiful" according to the nurse. Please pray that the next gas that they take is "beautiful" as well and that they continue to be "beautiful"! I will update again when he calls.
10:30pm - This gas wasn't a good one. Jude still has high CO2 levels. He is quite agitated and can't seem to get settled. They put him on antibiotics to be safe too. Please continue to pray for his gases to improve.  They will check another set of gases at midnight to see if he has improved after some of the changes they made since the last one. (his positioning and suctioning out his airway)

7 comments:

  1. Dear Rose and Brian, I know it seems like you are on a roller coaster but you are not from God's point of view. His timing and view is so different from ours. When I was caring for my mom and things seemed so tough I would tell myself, "THIS is what I am doing." It would help me stay focused and not look at yesterday or tomorrow, but try to stay in the moment (day). I think that is what will way-lay us ....looking too far into the future. I will pray for God to help keep you both in the moment (that is why it feels so true and right to go and see for yourselves how Jude is doing). My love and prayers are with you.

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  2. praying for beautiful blood gases!

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  3. Thanks for the update! it's an honor to pray for Jude and his life and your family! Your little boy has such a special place in our hearts!

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  4. Praying for that sweet boy and all of you!

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  5. Continuing to pray for you all, and I will be specifically praying that the surgery will happen successfully on Monday. Glad Jude's last CO2 looked so good!

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  6. Our family is praying for Jude. Thank you for sharing your story and the updates. Keep fighting sweet baby Jude!

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