April 10, 2006

Here is a picture of Zachary in his little glass box which was used to transport him to surgery. He liked the change of scenery on the way to the operating room and had his eyes wide open the whole way there. His surgery for his two hernias was successful although it wasn't uneventful. Zachary did not react well initially to the general anethesia and his heart rate dropped pretty low and they had to give him a shot of epinephrine to bring it back up. He gave us a little scare but now he is doing well.

Zach was making good progress on his vent prior to his surgery. His oxygen requirements have steadily decreased over the last week. He is averaging between 25-30% (he actually made it to room air for 30 minutes one night). The doctors had even discussed extabating him if the surgery had not been scheduled for monday. If they extabate him (remove the breathing tube) the plan would be to move him to a CPAP mask. A Nasal CPAP delivers air into his airway through a specially designed nasal mask or pillows (looks like a scuba breathing tube connected to his nose). The mask does not breathe for him; the flow of air creates enough pressure when he inhales to keep his airway open. The doctors are now waiting to see how he recovers following his surgery and determine if he is ready to take the next step. If he is able to recover to the point where he was prior to the surgery, they will move him to the CPAP as early as tomorrow. The discussions regarding steroids and tracheostomy are on on hold at least for the moment. Whether or not these are needed will depend upon Zachary's response to the CPAP.

On the bad side, Zach has picked up his third batch of staph infection. So far he isn't showing any signs of it affecting him and since he just finished a course of antibiotics, the doctors are just watching it closely at this point. We've said this before, but this continued struggle against infection shows how badly we need to get him off of the breathing tube.

We will update again soon. We love you!