Potential Delay in Plans

So seems our plans may be changed again...

Ethan went to therapy last week for his monthly stay and unfortunately when he got home on Sunday within 9 hours he started vomiting and had a fever.  He continued to have a fever, vomit and started to have really foul smelling stool through to Tuesday afternoon when I brought him in to be seen by a doctor to see if he had an infection.  His ears seemed like they could be on the verge of an infection so he prescribed something to stop him from vomiting and wanted to see us in 24 hours.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday we got the news that Ethan's Shilla procedure has been approved!!!  :)  Plans for his traction and surgery are in the process and as I hear more, I will post it.

Back home with Ethan's anti-nausea meds and he did stop throwing up but his stools were getting looser and he started to have respiratory issues.  He did great with the anti-nausea meds for his first two doses but then he started to throw up just before his next dosings.  Just over the 24-hour mark, we brought him back to the doctor he'd seen on Tuesday and at first things looked alright...then they checked his oxygen saturation levels.  Now I know there is a chance their equipment wasn't reading well...but he was reading at 61at the low end and 81 at the high end but a lot closer to the lower end for much of the time.  They tried to do a nebulized (wet) treatment to help open his airway but then had to set up an oxygen tank.  They called the paramedics and we took a bumpy ride to the hospital ER.  His oxygen saturation was still an issue, but wasn't as low as at the clinic (he'd also received oxygen through the ambulance ride).  After several hours in the ER and discussions on where they would admit him, we were admitted into the pediatric critical care unit.  Since his only really need was for oxygen, they had hoped to get his needs low enough for them to send him to the floor to recover...but he just would not tolerate having his oxygen level reduced.  In the unit he was on 100% oxygen for over a day. 

Yesterday they tried to wean him down during the day and we got as low as 70% but at night we had to go back up to 80%.  Today while he was awake they were able to bring it down to 65% but as he falls asleep they have to raise it again.  We have sent several 'failed' stool samples - apparently formed means something different to the lab than it does to us - and his nasal cultures came back positive with metapneumovirus.  Despite still working hard to breath, ending up with a useless IV (that had to be restarted - 4 try trauma) and having blood drawn frequently, he is pretty alert and active.  At times a little too alert.

He pulled out his nasal prongs and tried to challenge himself without oxygen - he failed and has pulled off a couple probes, his oxygen saturation monitor, and keeps fighting sleep - which he desperately needs.  If we can get his oxygen needs down we can move up to the floor for continued recovery.

What does all of this mean though for the progression of surgery?!?  We're not sure yet, I'll touch base with the surgeon's office next week to see if we have a plan we can proceed with...