Day 45: More lung problems... enough already.

I wish every post could start with "lily had a good day." Unfortunately this one cannot. Lily is having a tough day. She's having a hard time on the tracheal ventilator, but she still needs to stay on it. Her lungs and trachea are secreting more fluids due to the invasive ventilator... the fluids are gathering in both lungs, and are likely causing the more frequent and severe episodes of desat's and Bradycardia's. They're doing a culture of the secretions to see if she has an infection in her trachea... which is less severe than a blood infection. Could be a cause of all the drops... she's had three or four drops since I've been here, about an hour. Lily's hematocrit levels were too low again, so she had her eighth blood transfusion today.

What's worse, Lily's right lung is now collapsed. They saw it in a chest xray today. Medical term is atelectasis of the right lung. They think her lung started collapsing on the CPAP. Apparently it's common among preemies, the attending called it "par for the course". He also called it a "minor setback", which makes it sound less severe than the gut reaction when you hear 'collapsed lung'. Still... minor setback? My kid's lung is collapsed, and you're saying it's a minor setback? Or... par for the course? If this is par, I don't want to know what a bogey is. 

The fact is, it could be worse. I'm glad that they've at least identified the issue, and that they are taking steps to fix it. Doctors are hoping the added pressure of the ventilator helps re-inflate her lung. We're hoping it does, too. Docs administered another round of the diuretic today, in hopes of clearing up the fluid in her lungs.

All of these setbacks are pretty unnerving. They're enough to drive you crazy. One second, everything's OK, she's doing well on the CPAP... next second, BAM... like someone jumps out of the closet and hits you on the head with a bat. What we need is a setFORWARD. Enough setbacks.

Good time to list a few positives.
1. Lily's still gaining well. She gained another 50 grams last night. She's now 3lbs 6oz. They moved her feeds to once every three hours, as she gradually moves more and more to a regular eating schedule.
2. No NEC! The doctors said she gave them quite a scare with the bloated stomach yesterday. Thank God
3.  No brain injury! That bears repeating. No brain injury!
4. They've identified the lung issues, and are addressing them. Although the ventilator and collapse are setbacks, if could be worse.
5. And afer all... Lily is still fighting!

The blog has received almost 25,000 views since first post. Thank you for following Lily's story, and thank you all so, so much for keeping her in your thoughts and prayers.