28 Sep Update
Well, slow and steady are the words for the day…and probably for the next week or so. That’s a good thing though, and we’ll take any good news we can get. Nothing really big happened – changed pain medications because Keegan was building a tolerance to the one he’s been on for the last 2 weeks, reduced the epinephrine and dopamine a little, reduced the ventilator rate a little, and started giving 1 cc or milliliter of formula each hour (yes, that’s a tiny amount just to “wake up” his tummy). His numbers overall are looking good. His kidneys have “smartened up” and started filtering a little better. He’s still very swollen, but it’s gradually improving. The doctors want him to be “negative” by about 100 ccs each day; that means that he is getting rid of 100 more ccs than he’s being given to reduce the swelling. That’s a very slow but safe rate. It’s more frustrating for us as his parents to have to live through each day with him looking so puffy.
Gray has the night watch tonight with nurse Amber who had him the night after his first surgery. It’s really amazing to see all the different nurses that have cared for Keegan ask to be back with him, like Holly who was on the day shift. The entire staff there is wonderful and so caring. We are blessed to have each of them.
Please keep praying for steady progress in the right direction. It’s a pretty general prayer focus, but there are so many things that go hand-in-hand now. Today I was reflecting on the way God took care of Keegan before he was even born by preparing a support system at Children’s for us. He insured a dear family friend of ours would be an RN in the CVICU. He put the father of a childhood friend of mine as one of Keegan’s talented surgeons. He connected us with a pediatrician who happened to be best friends with one of the transplant team, and he introduced us to one of the head nurse practitioners through a judge I know. These are just a few of the many connections we didn’t know we had or would ever need at CMC. We may never know or understand why Keegan must go through this, but we can always trust that God had it planned very well. Even in the face of tragedy, he has blessed us with miracles over and over again. We will continue to praise Him for his enduring love for he has lifted Keegan up as a light for everyone. This website is proof of that! Thanks again for your prayers. Keep it up!