Ryan Update.

We're on day three post-op and the story is the same we've always told. Ryan's sitting on high flow oxygen and nitric oxide to keep his oxygen saturations level. Every time we try to wean him he hits a wall around 8 liters per minute oxygen with 10 parts per million nitric oxide. He had several episodes Sunday when he got mad, tore out his nasal cannula and desatted into the 30s  - one with a simultaneous drop in heart rate to 90. Not fun.


For a little refresher: Oxygen saturations are basically the numbers you get when they put the little pinchy thing on your finger with the red light. Healthy people usually have an O2 sat of 95-100. Ryan's are always lower than that - around 75 (when we get a cold our sats drop to 80 - so think lower energy). Most people satting in the 40s are in the act of dying .For him it's critical to address those numbers and they do scramble to get him what he needs, but it's not an all-out emergency with attendings and nurses running from all corners. I think we've only had two times where help came running.

It all sounds scary but the reality is Ryan doesn't have proper breathing mechanisms in place so uses his accessory muscles to breathe every day. We use these muscles when we're in respiratory distress - like after running... when our nostrils flare, our lungs refracts and we gulp in air. Since he utilizes these muscles every day, when he's actually in stress there's nothing left for him to rely on. His low sats, while concerning, are typical for him after a procedure. It always takes him a little time (usually about the time the majority of the pain subsides) to have stable sats. Now it's just a waiting game for him to be out of pain enough to find his breathing rhythm again.

Please pray as we wait for this to happen that he won't develop any other complications, that his little body will heal quickly and we'll be able to keep him happy (right now morphine, toradol, and dopamine are his new (old) BFFs).

PS: The girls are doing great with their Marmi and Pop. Ainsley asked how Ryan was doing, told me she misses me, then proceeded to laugh and carry on about all their galavanting the last few days. Please pray their anxiety levels continue to be low.