Lightly Salted

Well, today has been interesting.

Albert is holding at 0.2 litres of oxygen via the low flow, and still digesting well. His nurse said that he was eager and enthusiastic in the oral feed but his enthusiasm seems to have outgrown his skill at feeding. Although he attacked the bottle teat better than before, he barely wrestled 1 ml from it before becoming too tired to continue. The nurse will try changing the teat in an attempt to convince him to suck, not chew. 

Yesterday I had expressed my concern to the doctor that Albert's platelet levels seemed to have dropped dramatically at about three day intervals. He argued that Albert's levels were holding, and I reminded him (in our conversation yesterday) that today would be the next three day mark.

First things first, Albert had a quiet night and seems to be stable today. He continued to waver between 0.3 and 0.1 litres of oxygen via the low flow but he steadily resists the complete removal of the oxygen. While he dropped a little on oral feeds (10-15 mls) his digestive system has been coping easily with increased feeds via the stomach tube.

Two days ago we had been told that a speech therapist would come and advise us on his oral feeding.

First things first, the platelet transfusion has restored Albert's platelet level to 99, which is about where we need it to be. They will be monitoring him daily to watch for another sudden drop. In the meantime the haematologists are running their tests (I have lost count of how many they told me they were doing) and we should have initial results back in a couple of days.

For anyone attempting to "Dr Google" this one, I can save you a moment of angst.

With so much positive progress so far I guess we had to have a day where Albert went backwards. Today was that day. Overnight I had two calls from medical staff at the hospital. Albert's breathing had remained more or less constant, dropping slightly back to 0.2 litres of oxygen input via the low flow, and his feeding is holding steady.

Today was a day of mixed news, but things seemed to be heading in the right direction.

First things first, Albert is stable and progressing slowly. I mentioned yesterday that Albert was down to 25% oxygen input via CPAP and he came down to 23% at times overnight.

I am praying this Novena for my newborn son, who is struggling with serious health problems and is likely to struggle for a while yet. (This means I will pray this prayer each day for nine days.)

For those who have asked if they can help in any way, feel free to join me in this prayer, or any prayer you feel comfortable with.

A Novena for Albert William Holmes

St.