Ira is pretty stable these days. Nothing really changed over the weekend. Weekends in NICU (and probably other hospital departments too) are pretty slow. That's nice because things are a bit quieter but a little nerve-wracking since your favorite docs aren't around. Here is where Ira stands as of today:

He is still ventilated. He isn't using nearly as much of the machine as he was a week ago. Instead of hovering around the 70-80% mark he is using around 40-50% of the machine. That's pretty good. He is still being medicated with nitric oxide and flolan (prostacyclin) but has been weaned from the milrinone. All these medicines treat Ira's pulmonary hypertension...which is still an issue. I talked with Dr. Stolar today and he said Ira's heart is still a concern. It's still working pretty hard and this is obviously not ideal.

The ECMO machine required that two significantly sized cannulas be placed in Ira's neck. (You can kinda see those cannulas in the pic on Apr 25 and the bandage on Apr 30.) They took those out recently and closed the area with stitches. They took the stitches out this past Friday. Ira will have a mean looking scar on his neck.

The surgery to repair Ira's hernia required an incision right below the left rib cage. They then were able to pull down the stomach, spleen, intestines, etc and put them into their respective places in the abdomen area. However, the skin in that area wasn't enough to close the incision so they patched Ira temporarily with a goretex patch. (Did you know goretex had so many uses?) So he has this goretex patch that will be removed and the incision closed up within the next couple of days.

The next steps are these: Ira needs to be weaned from the nitric oxide and then the ventilator. The flolan might be something Ira goes home with. Finally, Ira will need to learn how to eat. Let me give you an example: our friend, Baby Ava, has made significant strides. She is learning how to eat but because she didn't develop that naturally upon birth she doesn't know how. The first time she was given a bottle, she got some of the milk in her mouth and just kept it there. She didn't know what to do with it. Wow, huh?

And just when you think things are going good things turn. Our friend, Baby Lily, "crashed" this weekend. Whereas she too was making significant strides one of her lungs collapsed this weekend and was immediately back on the oscillator, nitric oxide and milranone. (Lily's mom does not mind me sharing this and would appreciate your thoughts/prayers.) Lily's been in the NICU for six weeks and counting. Lily's mom is one of the strongest and most determined people I know. Laura and I have learned much from her.