We are praising God for the small strides in the right direction that Esther is taking.
Thank you all who are praying with us, and those who fasted with us too. What a blessing to be lifted up in prayer, all over the world, by so many!
Yesterday they started Esther on the oscillator at a low setting, just to get things started. They have been taking an X-ray every 6 hours or so to see what is happening. They change the settings each time. Now they are holding steady and continuing to X-ray her to make sure things are ok. Today, after some suctioning we started to see her chest vibrate. Which means that the oscillator is getting air into the lungs. Also instead of just heart sounds in the chest you can hear air.
They are keeping it gentle trying to get the bronchioles to open up, then they will try to have the lungs fill with air. She still has a long way to go, but we are so thankful to have things go in the right direction.
A few days ago, she had an air pocket by her heart, when they removed the air it filled with blood. They spent a few days debating what to do about it. Esther’s surgeon fixed the cannula’s where the ECMO machine is attached to her. That helped her blood flow quiet a bit but it wasn’t enough. Today they decided to open her up to get the blood out. The cardiac surgeon was very confident that it would be alright. Apparently, right when they cut into her chest blood poured out and her stats instantly were better. The blood was old, meaning that it wasn’t continuing to leak. They put a chest tube in, but there has been very minimal drainage. Since then her blood pressure and heart rate are better. The numbers for the ECMO are better. Her arms and legs are warmer. She is even peeing. Yay.
Everytime I walk the halls through the PICU to her room someone is talking about it and how awesome Esther is looking. We are so happy to see small steps in the right direction. Praying so hard that we continue this way. There are still so many things that can go wrong. And she still has to prove herself before they will do surgery to repair the diaphragm.
Esther has been on ECMO for almost 2 weeks now. This is when ECMO circuits start to fail. Which means blood clots, brain bleeds and a few other things that can go wrong. They can get a new ECMO machine but that is risky too since she will be off ECMO while they replace it. We are praying this machine stays good and when the time comes to replace it, that it goes smoothly.
Esther has been on a paralytic for a few days now. It makes me sad not to see her legs move or eyes open. I know once things get better we won’t need it anymore. She is still as adorable as ever.
All of Esther’s stuff.
The other kids have been doing so well with everything going on. And all the nurses love seeing them when they visit Esther. We have been finding lots of fun things to do around here.
