1/3 8:45 am

Ethan had a restful afternoon yesterday. Janice was doing her thing and not mouthing off too much. Ethan still had a lot of bloody fluid removed from his lungs but it wasn’t as red (active bleeding) it was more older blood with secretions. It was still a fair amount. 

He had a few instances of his oxygen level dropping but he brings it back up fairly quickly after a suction. The nurses are working diligently to make sure his bed sore has no pressure on it.

Ethan did have some trouble overnight. His blood pressure dropped dangerously low. His nurse was on it. She called the doctor over and they told Janice to stop pulling off fluid for now. This will help stabilize his blood pressure. She is still cleaning his blood but just not removing any fluid. 

This means yesterday they pulled off 1.4 liters of fluid (total since this started is 3.8).  So they will start to pull off more fluid at some point but at a slower rate.  They adjusted some medications for blood pressure support and crisis was averted. 

On a side note, it has become a fun past time to become verbally abusive to Janice. The nurses have joined in. It is fun to share a laugh over it. She makes noises every so often. I am careful not to swear because we are in pediatric ICU but it is fun to get creative. Or a good “Shut up, Janice” in a snarky tone, is just enough. She is loud and obnoxious. It is with good reason. If there is an issue, we don’t want Janice pumping clotted blood into Ethan. 

The nurses were pulling up Ethan’s YouTube last night. It is so nice of them to take interest and invest in him.

I am doing well. Even though it is groundhogs day for me, it is not terrible. I have my coffee, shower (usually clean) and sort of just take it day by day.  Each day writes itself as we go. I have developed an anxiety being away for any length of time. It does not feel good in my gut if I am gone for any length of time.

The  nurses that are new to his case, they don’t know what he likes and what he does. They like to pile blanket on and he hates that. They were tying his left hand down tightly and it doesn’t need to be. He isn’t able to grab things with that hand. Just little “comfort” things. I am probably one of those annoying mom’s but I am always kind and am not going to stifle myself when it comes to Ethan.

Ethan is going to get a blood transfusion today to help him feel better and support him. It will bring up the percentage of red blood cells in his blood stream that help to carry oxygen to all his bits and pieces. It will also replace some of the blood lost from his lung hemorrhage and the nurses suctioning it out.

I have already done Ethan’s physical therapy this morning. Time to turn on the “boob tube” and let him watch tv for a bit. Slow and steady.