This morning we started weaning down on the sedatives. The hope was to get him to wake up, pull the breathing tube, and get him on the path to going home tonight. Unfortunately with a little bit of moving this morning he started bleeding everywhere! It didn't last long but he ended up soaking half his bed with blood from his neck site. The docs got it to stop completely within 15 minutes. They then put new pressure bandages on, cleaned him up a bit, and re-sedated and paralyzed him. Rounds just happened and it sounds like Ethan will be sedated through the day and night again. We'll attempt Propofol and extubation in the morning. Of course this might change if things go perfectly this morning/afternoon. They might consider extubation tonight, but it's not likely.
Dr. Stewart came by when the bleeding stopped and was happy that it seemed to be under control. He doesn't feel that great about doing the cut-down procedure (cutting around his neck and stitching the vein). He's just too concerned that we'll end up losing our only access site for future caths. If we lose this neck site his only other access point is trans-hepatic. That means we'll have to go through his liver for all his future caths! This would be much harder on him than the groin and neck that we do now. Please pray that they can keep the blood stopped and we don't have to resort to anything else!
He's breathing really fast right now. That seems to be due to the fact that he's being so resistant to the sedatives. Once we get back to the level of drugs that he needs hopefully his breathing will slow and he'll stay calm. They think he's most likely anxious and that's causing the fast breathing. Other than that he is doing well. He's stable, his sats are in the low 80s, and he's pinker than I've seen in a LONG time (even though he's on the ventilator). Please pray that he can rest and recover today with no more bleeding issues. I'll keep you all updated as I get info. Thanks so much for the prayers and support! :)
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