Tyler’s Journey…

Tyler has had some very concerning developments with his lungs and is undergoing some further testing. Will post more when we have details, but for now please pray very hard!

Tests have been conducted but are not shedding any light on Tyler’s worsening lung function. They thought perhaps they would have to drain some fluid from his lungs, but an ultrasound revealed no extra fluid. So now they’re left really not knowing why his ventilation settings won’t keep the CO2 from building in his blood. […]

Late yesterday they disconnected Tyler from the CRRT (dialysis) to see how his kidneys would do on their own. Initially, he ended up being 2 liters positive (his kidneys weren’t getting rid of enough fluid on their own). After being given Lasix, he ended up 1 liter negative (too much fluid came off). Possibly this […]

Since his incident this morning, Tyler thankfully is back to all but one of the same settings he had earlier this morning and has restabilized. He is having increased lung secretions, and they expect that all deep suctioning will cause similar incidents, so they will be prepared next time. Ron and I met with the […]

Praise God! Tyler’s blood gases have been the best in weeks! His pH hit normal last night – a big change from constantly being on the verge of acidic. He only started the anti-viral and another antibiotic late yesterday afternoon, so I don’t think this can be attributed to the medication yet. Due to the […]

Tyler’s latest vent wean did NOT disrupt his perfect blood pH!

Ron and I can’t wipe the smiles off our faces today! Tyler’s CO2 gases held in the acceptable range all day long despite being weaned several times. He tolerated some deep suctioning this afternoon with good results. His kidneys are plugging along off dialysis although they still need the help of Lasix. His new rash […]

Overnight, Tyler was able to sustain the weaning he had yesterday! For those familiar with oscillators, he went from a Delta p of 77 to one of 64, and a Hz of 5 to a Hz of 6 in a 24-hour period. He’s holding at the new settings, but his blood gases are a little […]

Weaning and blood gases played second fiddle today to some severe hypotensive events, coupled with severe hypertensive events in response to the meds to bring his pressure back up. It took hours for Tyler to stabilize. His fever rose quite a bit today. Just to confound the doctors a little bit more, the second test […]

Things are looking up again today: Tyler’s blood pressures stabilized overnight, his fever improved (it was as high as 104), and his heart rate came down. At rounds this morning the doctor said Tyler’s lungs are looking better on x-ray with a lot less subcutaneous air! Tyler was futher weaned on the oscillator last night […]

So it ended up being another of those up and down days. Tyler’s lungs did NOT like being dropped to a Delta p of 58 earlier today. His CO2 gases were very high – one time going above 100 – and he had to be brought up to 65, where he remains now. Usually his […]

My heart is finally beating a little more steadily after the day we’ve had. This morning Tyler’s oxygen sats were dropping, and kept dropping despite being suctioned and given more oxygen. A chest x-ray revealed that the entire upper lobe of his right lung had collapsed. They repositioned his endotracheal tube a little more deeply […]

Tyler is having a fairly stable day after all the upset yesterday. His right lung is still not completely reinflated, so his oxygen sats remain in the low 90s. He is still on the higher ventilator pressures, and they are doing no weans for awhile in order to maintain his stability. Thanks for your continued […]

Tomorrow (March 6th) marks 6 months since I first brought Tyler to the ER in September, and it also happens to mark 3 weeks on life support. Before his doctors knew Tyler had a particularly nasty subtype of AML that would require a bone marrow transplant, we were initially told his entire treatment would last […]

Tyler was less stable today. His blood pressures and oxygen sats kept dropping. His right upper lobe had not improved at all from yesterday’s chest x-ray, so he had to go up on his airway pressures again to try to get his lung inflated. The total arsenol they would typically use against a collapsed lung […]