Day 29

We had another roller coaster day, but things are looking fairly stable right now. The cultures from his belly drain haven't come back yet, but when they looked at it yesterday, it looked "suspicious for infection"... The white blood cell count in the sample was really high, so they went ahead and started him on antibiotics. Today, the fluid coming out is a little clearer, so hopefully the antibiotics will do the trick without any other interventions. He hasn't thrown up since late yesterday afternoon... They stopped his feeds after starting the antibiotics, so that we wouldn't have to worry about him losing them while puking and blowing up his diaper. The doctors think he has pancreatitis, and that's what is causing his digestive issues. He had an ultrasound done yesterday, but they weren't able to see the pancreas very well with all of the gas in his bowels... They'll try again today to see if we can get a better look and confirm. There's no real "treatment" for it, besides rest and time... Stopping his feeds was a good call, and if his pancreas is the problem, we'll have to be really careful when we start them back up again. Otherwise, he's doing pretty well today. They'll continue to lower his vent settings, and hope to try him off the vent for a little while at the end of the week. Even if he doesn't last long off the vent, it will give them a better idea of what's going on in his heart without the vent helping out. Hopefully, the rest of the week will be uneventful, and he can continue to rest and heal in peace. I'll keep posting updates as we get them, and thank you all for the continued prayers.