I apologize, I was waiting to post this until Dr. Maslonka (overnight intensivist) did his rounds, but apparently he didn't come by until around midnight and Austin was stable enough that he didn't want to wake us!
Another tough day. Austin had difficulties throughout the night with continuing to really "pull" and take rapid breaths. After they changed to him to BYPAP last evening, he started to have a more productive cough and secretions but was unable to get them out. He was suctioned and received respiratory therapy several times throughout the night.
This morning Dr. Fugate (intensivist) came in and had made the decision to move Austin to the 5th floor. He was already in PICU, but he was in the 6th floor step-down unit. He was making this move because he was unsure how long Austin would sustain working so hard to breathe. His concern was that at any point Austin could become exhausted and his condition could deteriorate quickly. He told me he was 50/50 on whether or not he would need intubated. But if he did need to be intubated, he would need to be on the 5th floor where they're ready to go in minutes. He also repeated his chest x-ray and ordered an echocardiogram. The chest x-ray showed the pneumonia has gotten worse. The echo was to check to make sure his heart functions were still stable, he was specifically ruling out pulmonary hypertension. The echo came back just fine.
So, around 2pm we moved to 5th floor PICU and got settled in. When Dr. Fugate checked him over he told me "He sounds a tiny bit better. We're still 50/50 on needing to intubate." He had some good moments this afternoon/evening and some rough moments.
Hugs,
Brian and Tara
Max and Austin
Oh Tara, this is so hard for all of you to be going through! I am truly sorry. It's so hard to see your baby struggling and feeling so poorly. Austin is small, but he has already shown how strong and persistent he is! I'm sending my prayers for his healing, as well as for all of you as you move through this.
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