Benjamin has made quite a bit of progress over the past week. The doctors have been able to wean his vent settings from delivering 40 breaths per minute to 20 breaths per minute which means he is now doing more of the work on his own. His oxygen settings are still around 40 to 50 percent. We need to see a decrease here as well as on some of the other settings that determine how much pressure is being given. He has a lot of work to do and still a lot of lung development necessary to get there.
Benjamin is getting more and more fidgety and active. He accidentally extubated himself the other night. He was lifting his head from side to side and his tube that connects him to his ventilator came out. The doctors said the way he responded shows that he is definitely not yet ready to be weaned off of the ventilator. He had difficulty breathing and needed to be revived by using the resuscitation bag.
I know it sounds like so much going on; but he has had a tremendous amount of improvement this past week even with the setbacks. I know we are asking a lot of Benjamin to get him where he needs to be, but I keep reminding myself- Our God is Big. He will get there!
Benjamin will have another eye exam on Tuesday of this week. Please continue to pray for his eyes and his Lungs.
2 Weeks of Recovery
9 years ago
Sweet Benjamin! Praying for the healthy development of your lungs!
ReplyDeleteBenjamin is doing awesome, glad to hear his oxygen levels are going down and that he is being active. Praying for continued healing of his lungs as well as for his eyes. Ya'll are doing great.
ReplyDeleteMichelle
Try to not get discouraged over "slow" progress. Yes, lungs are a huge deal, but so far Benjamin has escaped a lot of other complications that many poor preemies face. No brain bleed = AMAZING! It honestly sounds like he is doing great and 40 bpm to 20 bpm is a huge deal despite him not doing great while extubated. Rhys's major issue was also his lungs, which required him to have many rounds of (potentially harmful) steroids, three months on the vent, and O2 until age 1. On the flipside he was lucky enough to stay completely free from infection his whole stay and did not require a feeding tube or any other various assistance a lot of micros need. I know at this point you are itching for major movement, but he will get there. It sounds like Benjamin and Rhys are sharing the same time table... their own! :)
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