Si Pap Trial Success

Yesterday Elias had two windows off the Si Pap. The first for an hour and the second for an hour and a half. He did pretty good and really was happy about it. They did have him on a trach collar with cool mist and oxygen, about 28% during those times. Today they are increasing those two windows to three hours each, as long as he tolerates them. A blood gas will be drawn to assess how well the body is doing with clearing his carbon dioxide and a CRP will be sent to the lab as well. They have noticed his white blood cell count creeping upwards, but there are no outward signs of infection or illness. The CRP will determine if they need to do various types of cultures to find potential infection. The WBC numbers are not alarming, but simply trending in a way they feel more comfortable following up a little with. Hopefully, the CRP will not show the need. It is possible that Elias is brewing something considering all his medicine is given via the G-tube up until the NJ tube was placed. We did tell the doctors there was evidence his medicines were leaking out of the stoma. The most concerning would be the amoxicillin.

The plan for the weekend is to continue with the multiple three hour windows. Let any cultures they may or may not do grow and evaluate things again on Monday. Elias is set to return to the operating room on Wednesday for another Bronchoscopy. This along with the progress Elias has made should give us a better idea of what is safely needed intervention wise and a time frame to potentially get home. At least that is the hope! It has been great the last few days to watch Elias laughing, smiling, and having fun. he really deserves those moments. It really does our hearts so much good to witness these behaviors. Very late last night we thought Elias was coughing and needed suctioning. We jumped up and rushed to the bed only to find that he was laughing so hard watching Dr. Seuss. He was literally cracking up, it was hilarious! 

Thank you all for your continued prayers and thoughts. Elias is obviously feeling those vibes which is evident by his success. We will be happy when this segment is over and we can be home for a little while. This has been a long haul so far and we are anxious to get even a glimpse at that light towards the end of this tunnel. We hope everyone has a good weekend.