New Update

This is the new plan as of 10:00 PM tonight: No decisions will be made (whether to do surgery or not) for two weeks. Dr. Georgeson wants her lungs to heal completely before any more talk of surgery. After two weeks time, he will do an esophagram to see if the fistula repair has healed on its own. If it has not healed, Jane Baird will be taken into surgery (if her lungs are better). She will then need at least 3 weeks (maybe more) to recover from surgery. If she does not need surgery, she will be kept in the NICU until she is completely well. As many of you know, Jane Baird has a tethered spinal cord and will have to have surgery to correct that problem. If Jane Baird does not need surgery to repair her fistula, we will talk with her neurosurgeon and begin the testing that is needed before surgery. Once testing is complete, we will move forward with her spinal surgery.

The big switch!

These are the pictures that I took of the big switch over from the oscillator to the ventilator.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow...

Good things are happening for us! Yesterday was an extraordinary day. Jane Baird had a great blood gas every time it was checked. The nurses were slowly turning down the settings on her oscillator (sp?) throughout the day and she was able to tollerate all changes. I was nervous on the way over to the hospital this morning b/c yesterday was such a great day and I was hoping for more good news and not sure if I would get any. I was not surprised to see that she was still on the oscillator when we walked into the NICU. After talking to the nurse, I learned that she had several more great blood gases. Each one was better and better. I was then told that she would soon be off the oscillator and back on the ventilator. That was great news! The nurses planned to make the change after lunch. My parents took us out to lunch and then we came back so that we would be there while she was being switched over (I was warned that it could be a dramatic event if Jane Baird got upset during the switch). Of couse I had my camera out and ready because this was a VERY important step towards recovery. It took less than 3 minutes and it was all over...without any drama! We had to leave right after that b/c visiting hours were over. Later on, Dr. Black came into the waiting room to tell me more good news. She said that Jane Baird had been tolerating the ventilator very very well. Also we learned that she could have a surgery as early as Monday. Then she really threw is a curve ball... she said that Dr. Georgeson thinks that there is a really good possibility that the tear in the repair (from the previous surgery) may heal on its own. That would mean that she may not need another surgery after all. We won't know more until we talk with the doctors again. We are hoping that JB won't need another surgery. We will just have to wait to see if the tear heals on its own. We could be waiting a long time (like weeks maybe), but it would be worth it to wait. In the meantime her lungs will be healing. She has some pnemonia in her lungs and is still at risk for one of her lungs to collapse. Now that she is moving around a little bit, some of the congestion is working its way out of her lungs. We are hoping that she will fully recover from the pnemonia. Our family has been through so much in the four months since Jane Baird was born. I could have never imagined that we would have to go through this or that our sweet little baby would have to endure what she has endured. I know God has a reason and we trust in him. We know that we have so many people praying for us and we are so very thankful. It is overwhelming to see just how much people care about us. All of our prayers are being answered. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.