Another trip to Tucson today...I had the opportunity to talk with the resident doctor who is looking after Evan. The resident is really nice and easy to talk to...but she makes me feel old. Are doctors getting younger or am I just getting old!? :-)
They did another head ultrasound today to re-check those two areas I wrote about in an earlier post. They didn't see any change from the original ultrasound, so that is a great thing. It means it isn't getting worse and chances are, those two areas will just heal as his brain grows.
The doctor predicts (if all goes as it has been going), that he will be weaned off the oscillating respirator possibly late next week. She can't predict if he will go back on the normal respirator or if he will be able to go onto the CPAP. A little speck of light at the end of the tunnel...but, don't be surprised if he relapses again (all part of what preemies do).
One odd thing is that they did a genetic test on him (as they do will all newborn babies at UMC)...and he had two abnormal results. The doctor told me they will re-do the test later since they think the results aren't correct due to Evan having a blood transfusion prior to the test. One abnormality is with his thyroid level...that result didn't surprise me since I've been hypothyroid since '99. The doctor wasn't aware of my medical condition and wrote that into his chart. The other abnormality I can't remember what it was...all is remember is it's a long word. The doctor said Evan was only off by a point or so on the optimal range for that test (again, showing that the results are probably off due to his transfusion). Both result abnormalities aren't something short-term to worry about anyway according to the doctor.
The doctor told me down the road they may have to do some sort of plastic surgery on Evan's foot due to that bicarb infustion burn. She assured me the burn/wound specialists are keeping an eye on his foot everyday and are working on healing it the best they can. I didn't get to see his foot today since it was bandaged, but even his day shift nurse Marianne says, his foot will look worse before it looks better. We're still in the looking worse stage.
They re-started feeding him micro-doses of breast milk today. He is still getting complete nutrition through his IVs, so they are still just testing him to see what he will tolerate.
That's it for today!
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UMC Charges: $6,971.50
Running Total: $145,503.49
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