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Our son Maxton was diagnosed with left-sided congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) at his 19 week ultrasound. Maxton was born on 3/3/09 at Vanderbilt University. He fought hard for 18 days but earned his wings on 3/21/09. Maxton was an inspiration to many during his brief time on earth and has forever changed our lives. If your child is diagnosed with CDH, please feel free to contact us. Maxton may no longer live here on earth, but he will live forever in our hearts...

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Saturday, March 14, 2009

Are you impressed yet?

I think Maxton is trying to ask me if I am impressed with him yet. Since this time last week Maxton has lost a TON of fluid. Probably like 5 or 6 pounds of fluid. He has weaned his Delta P from 49 to 23. His oxygen from 100 to 52. His MAP on the vent from 18.0 to 13.0. His dobutamine is gone as of today and his dopamine has been weaned to where they want it (3). I am just so impressed by little man. The nurse today said she thinks that he is letting them wean more than they thought he would. So, today they decided to wean his nitric oxide. They are planning to wean it to 15 I think. So far is he down from 21 to 18 with the plan to go down by 1 every hour as long he is still satting well. When I left he was still satting 100 pre and 100 post. His heart rate was in the 130s-140s and his blood pressure mean was in the 60s, which is where they want it. His ECHO this morning showed his pulmonary hypertension was improving and is now about 1/2 of his systolic pressure. I am not sure exactly what this means, but I do know the doctors were pleased with this progress. Surgery is still likely next week. The plan now is to wean as many things as they can before surgery so that there is more room to go up after surgery if it is needed. of course we know they will have to go up on some things after surgery but the less they have to go up the better. Also, Maxton is breathing over the vent some today and it is pretty regular. They said this is fine as long as it isnt interfering with his blood gases, which looked good so far today. Just thought I would give an update since we came home this afternoon to rest. :-) Thanks for checkin in!

11 comments:

DJ said...

YOU thank US for checking IN? We're so thankful to you for taking the time to keep us informed! Way to GO Maxton! Hang in there & keep up that progress.... and as for the question of the hour, YES, we're impressed!
Love ya bunches & always!
The Joneses across the way.

Lauren Howard said...

Hey guys it's Lauren and Nathan in Chattanooga. We just wanted to let you know that we are praying for you and baby Maxton. We cant wait to meet him. We will be thinking about you this next week.

Alex, Ingrid, Alina & Robbie Houchin said...

That is such fantastic news! We are so pleased that he is doing so well! It sounds like he is telling everyone that he is ready for surgery, which is fantastic! We'll keep our fingers crossed that he continues on this path.
Well done Maxton!

Hugs,
Alina, Ingrid & Alex

Jaime's World said...

We are so pleased Maxton(or is impressed the correct word to say?)!
What a great posting!
We are also glad to hear that you guys got home to rest a bit! You must remember to take care of yourselves, too!
We're hoping the weaning continues!
Wishing you all the best.
Love and Prayers,
Sheryl & Tom

Tracy Meats said...

Way to go Maxton!! Keep up the good work and amazing your mommy and daddy and medical care staff with your strength!! Keep up the progress big guy and you will definitely be ready for your repair surgery next week. This was such a happy post to read today and I am so happy to see your son making progress.

Many prayers for Maxton, Tracy - mom to Ian

Rachel said...

That is awesome to news to hear that baby Maxton is doing so good. And as for the question of the hour yes we're very impressed. You guys are in our thoughts and prayers. Love ya!!

*super dude and super dog* said...

Impressed, very impressed. If he's as stubborn when he's a teen as he is now, you guys are going to have your hands full! I am thrilled to read that he's improving and fighting. I check your blog several times a day for updates on the big boy. Hang in there--you know it's a wild ride.

If I can offer one piece of advice, it's that as SOON as he's stable enough to tolerate handling, you get PT, OT and Speech in there to start working on his motor and oral skills. Even if it's just to suck on a paci or tolerate something in his mouth and no matter what they tell you, he CAN have a paci with the breathing tube in (they make ones with a cutout to accomodate the tube).

Craig and Kristi Kuehl said...

Praise God!! We KNEW he was going to be a fighter....and YES, we are VERY impressed--you can tell him that :) Thanks for the updates and we will continue to pray. You guys are doing great...

casau said...

thank you for the update! he is a rather impressive young man! prayers for all!

Elizabeth said...

I AM! Very Impressed!

Keeping you all in my thoughts, prayers and LUNG FUNCTION chants - people say they work - I guess they are!
Elizabeth

Your Gospel-Loving Friend said...

Atta boy Maxton!!!