March 27, 2007

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:29-31

I was awoken early this morning by Kyle's nurse practioner who said Kyle took a turn for the worse last night. The last couple of days his oxygen levels have declined meaning that the ventilator is needing to pump a higher concentration of oxygen into the air that Kyle breaths in order for the oxygen in his blood to remain at an acceptable level. The air we breath contains 21% oxygen. Since his birth 5 weeks ago, Kyle was "breathing" anywhere from 21% - 27% oxygen. This week it has steadily inceased and last night it was up to 71%. A chest X-ray was done yesterday morning and repeatedd last night...both times, his lungs were wet, so they started him on a diuretic called Lasix. In addition, the nurses thought he seemed very lethargic. Because of this, they ran a battery of tests called a Sepsis Workup to evaluate the presence of infection. His sepsis workup included a CBC (Complete Blood Count), CRP (C Reactive Protein - a protein in your blood that becomes elevated when infection is present), blood culture, urine culture and a sample of secretions suctioned from the endotracheal tube used with his ventilator. The CBC results are the only test results that come back immediately, and they showed an abnormal white blood cell count. This is often a sign of infection and therefore anitbiotics were started this morning.

We pray this for Kyle and for your loved ones in need...”O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me...you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever” (Psalm 30:2;30:11b-12).

God Bless You All,

Jennifer, Joe, Madison and Kyle