PICU Day 2

Just when we think we've been through it all...

Noah decided to bring some excitement to the small community of La Salle yesterday. And he did it in true Noah fashion. One moment we were watching Treehouse, and the next moment Noah is coughing up large amounts of blood. It happened so suddenly...I began suctioning...and suctioning...but he just wasn't stopping. Never have I felt quite the urgency I felt right then. We have been in really bad situations, but I have always driven Noah to the ER myself, knowing that because of where we live, it is just as fast as waiting for an ambulance and going with them. But this time there was no way I could get him to the hospital with the constant need for suctioning...I called 911. Yes, there was a moment, (or moments) of pure panic, but the adrenaline took over. When the paramedics arrived, they took one look at Noah, covered in blood, and we were in the back of the ambulance on the way to the highway to meet the helicoptor. That part I certainly wasn't expecting!! How surreal to think about it all now...the helicoptor landing in the middle of the highway...police...firemen...traffic lined up. Those are images I will not soon forget. Because of policy, at first they were not going to allow me on the helicoptor, but thankfully they decided to make an exception. And so we had our first helicoptor ride (I think Brad was pretty jealous) and within 4 minutes, before I could even comprehend what was happening, we were at the airport. Here we were met by another ambulance who took us to Childrens. We were definately the talk of the hospital, and we even heard the story on the news that evening. How bizarre that we just happened to have a helicoptor standing by...amazing how God watches over Noah. It was wild...crazy and very frightening, but how thankful we are for the way it all worked itself out.

During the transport to hospital, Noah's bleeding/coughing did settle. Given Noah's history, at first everyone assumed this was a GI bleed, however, he was not bleeding from his NG tube(until later, when he had swallowed blood). Once in the ER, Noah was resuscitated with fluids and was settling nicely. He then had another episode of cough/bleeding, and it was at that point that we all decided that it looked like pulmonary hemorrage (bleeding from his lungs) and he was transferred to PICU. His xray showed some definate lung changes as well. CPAP was started to put pressure into the lungs and help stop the bleeding. We also started the pentoprazole again, just to cover him in case there was any GI bleeding. He did have one more episode yesterday evening, but since then the bleeding has stopped and he is now stable. Once again, he is happy on his CPAP and his work of breathing is much improved. As to why this happened, no one can give us an answer. His bloodwork all looks okay...no clotting issues that would have caused the bleeding. Of course, his Enoxyparin (blood thinner) puts him at higher risk for bleeding, however he is on a pretty low prophylactic dose. There was some talk of scoping him to look for a source, but the risk of anesthesia right now is far too great. So if he continues to remain stable, we may have to settle with never knowing the reason behind this new issue.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. Once again, we are looking at another holiday in hospital which is very disappointing. But we are thankful...so very thankful to have our son with us this Easter. Praying for a boring, uneventful holiday weekend.