PICU Day 2

It has been an absolute whirlwind trip these past few days...

I will somehow try to put it all into words and fill in the gaps...

Thursday morning, Noah was still quite lethargic and I was worried about his hydration. So we headed in to the ER...Got there around 2pm, got an IV started, bloodwork done and some fluids going. He was draining some dark old "coffee grounds" blood from his g tube at the time. His lungs sounded ok...likely virus, but they decided to be safe and admit him for fluids as his potassium and sugars were low. While waiting to be moved to the ward, we lost the IV and it had to be removed. This was about 10pm. Getting another IV proved to be horrendous. We had every available expert come try, and finally 4 hours later, a PICU doc got one using ultrasound to guide her. His lungs started sounding worse, and a chest xray showed a right side pneumonia. We made it to the ward and about 2 hours later, we lost this IV. His viens are just SO fragile. There was no one left to try to get access, so we started his pedialyte, and prayed we could get some gut absorbtion to get him through to the morning.

We managed...and our wonderful nurse from PDU was able to get a scalp IV in the morning. His breathing continued to deteriorate throughout the morning, but with oxygen, he was holding his own. It was that afternoon that things began to fall apart...Noah developed a sudden massive GI bleed and we were rushed to the OR. The PICU doc estimated he lost his full blood volume...by the time we got to the OR, Noah was shocky, his lungs were failing and he literally looked like death. I have never been so afraid to send him into the OR and we knew he may not come out. It was a terrifying wait...our surgeon got a central line in, started blood, plasma and albumin. They also scoped him, but were unable to find a source for the bleeding. But with medication to decrease the bloodflow to the gut, they were able to get it under control. The bleed was likely caused by a combination of stress and malnutrition.

He is now in PICU...still on the ventilator...still really struggling. His blood gases are still poor...his chest is very tight and he is on a continuous IV ventolin infusion to try and open up those lungs. Still needing albumin and likely more blood...things are still critical. The road ahead will be long. But he is here...things could have gone so much worse yesterday. His angels were watching over him...he is here. For now, that is all that matters.