Chest is Closed

Mason had a good night last night. Our nurses are starting to get bored. This is a good thing.

Yesterday, the big concern was over Mason's blood pressure. They did an echo of his heart and found that the heart was in good shape and pumping well. They did see that the heart was not filling all the way with blood. This only means that Mason needed some more blood. They have to draw lots of blood to check vitals and he is still oozing some from his hand and chest tubes. They gave him more blood last night and his blood pressure rose. They were also able to cut one of his blood pressure med's in half. His vent settings were lowered slightly as well.

Today, the cardio-throacic surgeon closed his chest. The procedure went well. They went up on the settings on his vent for the surgery to keep his oxygen saturation levels and blood gas levels good. Today they will just be weaning the vent back to the settings from this morning.

Mason spent more time today with his eyes open. He was trying so hard to fight the sedation they gave him before his surgery.

Noah, the baby in the bed next to Mason had an ECMO trial today. Noah also has severe CDH, but on the left side which is more common (Mason's is on the right). We hope it goes well for them.

Normally, after the chest closure Mason would move from the PICU (Pediatric) to the NICU (Neonatal). We received word today that the NICU is full and Mason will stay in the PICU for the time being. We are ok with this because there is much more room in the PICU. We have also grown attached to many of his PICU nurses. After his chest tube is removed, Mason will be transfered from a stretcher to a crib.