8th Update

Samuel’s condition has improved since my last update. He is maintaining his blood pressure, body temp and breathing. They are weaning his breathing support at a very slow rate to allow him to equalize each time before moving the settings down again. Today when the doctor checked his eyes for pupil response, as they do every day with a flashlight, Samuel had an immediate response in his left eye and a sluggish response in his right eye. They have only seen a sluggish response in one of his eyes on the day they did his EEG testing and nothing before or since then. This is a very good sign because it shows increased brain activity.

Samuel’s gag reflex still has not developed. We started to see positive signs last week until his rough day last Saturday. Today when the doctor checked for this, he did not have a gag, but he did squirm more than he ever has before (he definitely didn’t like it).

He is now off of all IV’s, catheters and medications. The only tubes are his feeding tube and the ventilator tube. Samuel is up to full feedings of 70cc (approx 2 ½ oz) every three hours. He is digesting 100% after most of his feedings and now weighs 9 lbs 8 oz. If Samuel continues to be stable and consistent with is breathing and gas levels, then we will try to remove the ventilator tube, the middle of next week and see how he tolerates it. We will be checking his oxygen saturation level and heart rate, plus they will add a nasal cannula (oxygen tube at his nose) to help him become accustom to not having the ventilator tube. We will also have to determine how much his mouth will have to be suctioned, since he still doesn’t have his gag reflex and swallowing capabilities.

Please specifically pray for his gag reflex and swallowing to develop before we try removing the ventilator. Samuel cannot remain on the ventilator with the tube down his throat for a long period. If he doesn’t tolerate without the vent, he will need the surgery for the tracheotomy and G-tube. Also pray for protection from secondary issues, such as pneumonia. This is always a concern for babies in Samuel’s condition.

We thank you for all of your prayers! God is definitely answering them…

I said I was going to send pictures to Anita, who has created a website for Samuel and is keeping it updated, but I haven’t yet; however, my oldest daughter has created a short picture video and Anita said she was able to upload it to the website today.

Once again, we cannot thank you all enough for your care and support,

Yancy