12/9 5:30 pm

Ethan has had a relatively quiet day.  Woo Hoo!!!!!!! He has his eyes taped shut so they can heal. This is a bit disturbing to look at but I know it is for the greater good.  He has his arm propped up so that the fluid can drain.  He has another day of healing under his belt. Not really, he is not wearing a belt.

His cardiologist is pleased with how he is maintaining his blood pressure.  He also shared that the echo Ethan had today showed that the right side of his heart is plugging away.  There is a little regurgitation on his tricuspid valve which is common after transplant. It seems to be keeping up which is great news.  He is still receiving medication to help it's function but things are moving along in the right direction.

They think Ethan has finally started to respond to his lung pressure medication.  They aren't entirely sure and are waiting to administer it again to see what happens.  This first time they noticed his pressures drop after administration (it goes in his breathing tube), the echo lady came in and pissed him off and he threw everything out of whack.  The are going to re-administer this evening and if all goes well get the wire to measure lung pressure out of him. One less item to cause infection.  We are going down.  Later they may remove his A-line in his leg.

As I walk down the hall in ICU, I notice that most of these kids have been in here longer than we have.  It's sad that most of them are quite young and have had a crap start.  One baby here never has anyone come to visit him.  I have never seen the parents since we have been on this floor. I want to just go hold him and rock him in the chair but I know they wont let me. Of course they can't tell me anything about him.

Ethan's room has cleared out a little thank goodness after ECMO was removed. I can actually walk around a little without bumping into the nurse.

I will consider this day a win and one day closer to having Ethan wake up. I know when he does, he is going to work his butt off the get out of here.