Kaden still on ECMO--Not a good day

PICTURED ABOVE IS ALL OF THE ARTICLES PLACED UNDER KADEN's ISOLET

Today has not been a good day. Kristi and I went to the NICU this morning around 9am. Kaden's stats were pretty low when we arrived. His blood pressure was really low and his O2 levels were in the high 70's low 80's. Not a good start for the day he's gonna be trialing off ECMO. The doctors also said that it looked like the X-ray of his right lung was not open as much as it was yesterday. They think that his stats went down because they were too aggressive trying to get the fluids off. They had to give Kaden platelettes this morning to bring his stats back up. Around 11:30 am, they tried to trial Kaden off ECMO. For the first 15 minutes, things looked GREAT. His O2 levels were in the high 90's, but as more time passes by, his stats dropped quickly. His CO2 level was sky high (in the low 100's). His O2 level for his upper body was reading in the low 70's, and low 40's in his lower body. They had to put him back on the ECMO circuit after about 45 minutes. During the time he was off the ECMO circuit, they tried both regular ventilator and high oscillating ventilator...neither worked.

Around 2:15pm, Doctor Keller came in to oversee another trial off ECMO to see excactly what was going on. So once again, they turned off the flows to the ECMO circuit...once again, Kaden's stats were great. But after about 20-30 minutes, the same thing happend. His stats dropped down, and his CO2 levels got very high. They decided to put him back on the circuit tomorrow. Doctor Keller came over and spoke with us regarding Kaden's issues. The biggest issue is that Dr. Keller doesn't think that Kaden has enough lung to support his body. That is why his CO2 levels got so high so quick. She said that Kaden had done everything he was supposed to do to try and get better. He has been peeing a lot, and his right lung has opened up, but she thinks it's just not enough lung for Kaden. She also said that she is worried about keeping Kaden on the ECMO circuit overnight and that they would be keeping a very close eye on things due to mechanical issues with the ECMO unit. We asked if it was possible to change out the ECMO machine, but she told us that she doesn't think Kaden is strong enough right now to recover from that. So as of this afternoon, Kaden's stats were looking very good when we left the hospital. They will be doing lots of lung treatments trying to get Kaden strong for tomorrows event. Kaden will have to come off ECMO tomorrow.

It has been a very stressfull day for Kristi and I. We have spent pretty much every minute of our day by Kaden's bedside praying that he will be able to survive coming off ECMO tomorrow. After they did his last lung treatment at 6:00 pm, and his stats were looking good, we decided to go back to our hotel room. We are both a mess both mentally and physically. We haven't even had time to eat anything today. As soon as I'm done with our blog entry for today, we are going to try and get some dinner.

In no way, shape or form am I giving up on Kaden, but after today's news, we are starting to feel very sad. We both are still praying and want Kaden to pull through this tomorrow, but we also don't want Kaden to have to suffer if there is no way he can survive. I know this has been a very difficult road for lots of us, but no matter what happens, I will never forget the time that I got to spend with Kaden everyday in the NICU. I hope everything goes well tomorrow and we can move on to the next step...surgery! I'm really praying that Kaden can survive and adapt to the change over from ECMO to the ventilator, so that he can get well enough to have his surgery. Then they can get started on his left lung to assist with getting rid of some of that CO2. Now is really the time that Kaden needs prayers from around the world. He needs God to step in and heal his lung so that he can do well tomorrow.

Grandma Mary, Grandma Debbie, sister Jessica, and brother Logan came to the hospital today. Both grandma's got to come in and see Kaden. Logan is still stuffed up with allergies, so we didn't want to bring him in because of his sniffling. I feel so bad for Logan. He really wants to go in and see his little brother. Jessica didn't come in today. She is really hurting bad and it breaks my heart. Brother Christopher has called about 10 times today to check on his little brother. Christopher is with his dad in Sacramento, but is very worried about Kaden.

I'm sorry that I don't have good news to tell everybody. I wish I could have posted a picture of Kaden with no canulas in his neck and his levels sky high. We will see how it goes tomorrow. Just pray that everything goes well. Kristi and I are going to get some food and try and relax as much as possible before our long day tomorrow.

We love you all and thank you all for your continued support of us and Kaden.

BELOW IS KADEN"S BIG BROTHER LOGAN> LOGAN IS SO PROUD TO BE A BIG BROTHER> HE LOVES HIS LITTLE BROTHER KADEN.