3.24.06: one better, one worse

If it ain’t one, it’s the other.

Well, first the good news. Avery’s swelling has gone down quite a bit. There’s a lot of air leaking out of his upper airways due to the increased space between his ET tube and trachea. Normally, this isn’t something you want, but because it means the swelling has diminished, it is something the doctor was happy to hear. They decided to adjust his tube a little, but not to replace it with a larger tube. It’s such an intrusive procedure with risks involved, so there’s no need to do it if there are other options. His pressures needed to be turned up a bit to adjust for the leaking O2, but it’s definitely within reason and no indication that he’s needing increased support.

It’s very possible that Avery will be given another shot off of the ventilator tomorrow. Since the swelling has gone down and all else is going well, we anticipate his odds of success are much higher than the last go ‘round. Let’s hope!!

Of course, all this is happening as Mary has her final day of grad school and our home health nurse who was going to keep Avery company tomorrow is now sick. And, I have to stay home with contagious Mason! Yikes. (A Plan B seems to be falling into place though.)

Yes, … Mason woke up this morning with conjunctivitis in his left eye. One big, swollen, red, goopy eye … poor guy. So, after he received his Synagis shots (RSV vaccination) at home this morning (obviously, it wasn’t Mason’s day), we made a quick hop on down the road to see our favorite Dr. B (the pediatrician) to have a full exam of all Mason's facial orifices and get antibiotic eye drops. His eye should look good by Sunday. Fortunately, he checked out healthy otherwise and is all set for his little surgery on Monday.

Mason is going to have tubes put in his ears, due to the constant and persistent fluid behind his ears. He’s been fortunate to have only one ear infection to date, but he’s had two audiology tests that revealed significant hearing loss in both ears. It’s assumed that the fluid is the culprit, but he will still have another hearing test in about six weeks. When you’re dealing with a baby like Mason, one who has had a grade 4 brain hemorrhage and has PVL, everything has to be treated as a potential neurological problem. Fluid behind the ears, however, has nothing to do with prematurity … just common, normal baby stuff. As if we didn’t have enough on our plate!

So, let’s see … if all goes really well, …

Avery will get off of the vent tomorrow and Mary will get through her final day of grad school without collapsing… Mason’s eye will clear up on Sunday and he’ll be able to hear again after Monday … we will get Avery home a day or two later, … then we’ll have the whole family back together for a few days before Mary has graduation events and ceremonies next weekend and before she starts her new job on Monday (4/3). If it all goes like that, ... Woo hoo! … or maybe I should say, Yahoo! (<-- Mary’s new employer).

Like yesterday, I didn't want to take more photos of Avery on the ventilator, so I'm filling in the photo column with a few shots from the past month.

Avery's eyes appear to be turning greenish

Mason's are still greyish blue but seem to be getting darker

Avery really enjoys his borrowed Big Bird toy (thanks Robin!)

Diaper changing has become more challenging lately

bath time gets more fun all the time