Hmph!

I'm not even going to hazard a guess as to when we may be taking JW off ECMO. Everything was looking great for today being the day until 10 last night when they did a chest x-ray and found his left lung whited out again. Another bronchoscopy this morning discovered his lung was inflamed and red. They were able to suck out some more gunk, but the inflammation was so bad there still wasn't much air getting through. They've upped his IV steroids and started him on some inhaled steroids as well. As of 8 tonight his left lung was looking a little better on x-ray. There was at least some air getting in there. The right lung is a little over inflated from the extra pressure to attempt to fill the left lung, but it's a trade-off we'll take right now. He's been oozing (bleeding) a good bit around his arterial line today because of the blood thinners. They sprayed something on it that stopped it for a couple hours. Since he's on the blood thinners they can't really redo the arterial line cuz it would just make a mess. So they are watching it closely and hopeful that he won't need it much longer. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
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