Cue the 80's music... The title is appropriate though. Wednesday, they extubated Jacob (took him off the ventilator), took his chest tubes out, and removed his pacer wires and catheter. Needless to say, he had a few less things dangling off of him! After the extubated him, he struggled with his breathing a bit throughout the afternoon and night and was a bit fussy (I would be too). They put him on a NCPAP machine (an anti-apnea machine some adults use, just a lot smaller) to try and help his breathing early this morning, but he was still struggling. After a chest X-ray and some deliberation, the team decided to reintubate him (begrudgingly). It was the right decision as he was just not quite strong enough to breathe on his own yet. His right lung was giving him some issues due to some congestion that caused it to collapse a little bit.
Once back on the ventilator, this morning, his lungs looked great. He is definitely more relaxed breathing now and will hopefully be able to have a couple of days to relax and then will be able to come off the ventilator on Sunday or so. Everything else has been looking very good for Jacob and his heart is working well. We'll be excited to be able to hold him and feed him again and hope it is sooner rather than later!
Thanks for the updates, Chris. I guess progress in fits and starts is still progress. You are all still in my prayers and thoughts.
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