I'll take it!

After posting yesterday's update, I went and listened to the doctors and nurses discuss Woody while on rounds, and heard that they had settled on a partial diagnosis for what is causing his recent respiratory difficulties. It's a condition that used to be very common in micropreemies but is not seen so much nowadays called Pulmonary Interstitial Emphysema (PIE). In laymanspeak, PIE is where air gets trapped in the space between the little sacs (alveoli) and the lining of the lungs. This is Bad, as it causes difficulty in making the oxygen and CO2 exchange in the blood cells, as well as making it likely that the air trapped there will escape into the other side of the lungs, which can cause holes in the lungs and can precipitate total collapse of respiration.

I didn't like this diagnosis very much.

Nonetheless, the doctors decided that to treat this, we were going to try to decrease Woody's ventilator pressures and then give him a steroid to decrease the lung inflammation, as well as continuing with the diuretic to get him to decrease the fluid in his lungs. When I went back there last night, I learned that he had not responded well to decreasing the ventilator pressures, which meant that we were down to relying on the steroid and diuretic to try to get the PIE to lessen. I went back to the farm with a heavy heart and found it difficult to keep my normally very hopeful mindset.

However, this morning I was met at the hospital with some long awaited good news: although Woody's lungs still looked "hazy" there is definite improvement visible in the PIE pockets of air. He remains still a bit puffy with retained fluid, but the diuretic is keeping his urine output at torrential levels. Overall, the nurse (and I must point out that this is the same sour-faced nurse I was complaining about yesterday) was pretty upbeat about him this morning, telling me that he was "head to toe better". I was waiting for good news yesterday, and although this is far from saying he's cured, I am definitely happy to hear that there is some positive progress being made.

Maggie is doing much better, and has her post-surgical followup today with the doctors who performed the c-section. We are also moving her back to our house from the farm today, and that will mean that she can spend more time at the hospital. Thanks for all your concern and prayers. It really does mean a lot to us.