We hadn't heard from you for a little while, but that is ok. We know you have a lot going on. We're looking forward to seeing you at our family Thanksgiving gathering.
Hey there!!! Are you enjoying your break? When do you go back to school? We go back on the 5th, but the kids come back on the 6th. The pressure's on when we get back...our state testing is in March! EEK!
Speech therapy has been in and started her on bottle feeding. She does half of her feeding by bottle, half by feeding tube. We’ll see how she does over the next few days. The goal is to get her completely on the bottle and off the feeding tube. If not, she’ll go home with the feeding tube. Speech therapy was impressed with her bottle-feeding so far. She’s doing pretty well with it! She just gets too tired to do the whole feeding by herself, which is why we have to put the second half of the food through the feeding tube. She’s had some trouble with spitting up her food sometimes, but as long as she continues to gain weight, there is little concern about that. We are just thrilled that she’s getting her mama’s milk. :)
The doctors are concerned that Mackenna may not have a spleen. Since the spleen helps prevent infection, she has to be on preventative antibiotics, until they find out whether or not she has a spleen. They will do the testing for that at a later date, as an outpatient procedure.
Really, the feedings are the only thing they are working on before Mac goes home. So, it is likely she’ll be going home next week! :) She continues to get more beautiful every day! One of her PICU nurses came to visit the other day, and she told us she had thought of a new nickname for Mackenna. (As if she didn’t already have enough! :) She said her nickname for her was going to be Mackie Mae. We all thought it was pretty cute, and it’s kinda stuck.
Thanks for the update. Just today I was thinking of writing you to see how things were going. We are pleased that Mackenna is eating and may be able to go home next week.
Great news! Mackenna was moved to the Riley Heart Center this evening!
Mackenna is completely off the vapotherm and oxygen, and she is getting food through her feeding tube. We are not sure when they will try the bottle again, but she’s getting milk again! The main thing they are going to work on with Mackenna is her feeding. She is down to 5 lbs 11 oz, and they want to get her weight up. In order for her to leave the hospital, she needs to prove that she can eat on her own (without a feeding tube) and gain weight appropriately. They are also trying to wean her off some of the drugs she is has been on.
Her recovery continues to be slow, but steady. She still has a ways to go, but she’s still improving!
If you plan on visiting, the Riley Heart Center is on the 4th floor. Mackenna is in room 4145, but it’s a locked unit. So, when you get off the glass elevator, turn left. The door is on the right hand side. To get through the locked doors, you will need to use the intercom, or you can call Kris or Tiffany’s cell phones (Kris 625-0794, Tiffany 625-0793). Kids are allowed to come to the Heart Center to visit Mackenna, as long as they are not sick.
Thanks for the prayers. God is certainly answering them!
Cherri
Mackenna was weaned completely off the nitric oxide again by this morning. She was doing so well, in fact, that the doctors took Mackenna off the ventilator again. They still are not sure what caused her episode yesterday. She’s back on the vapotherm, again, which is a warm, moisturized, continuous flow of air. The vapotherm is room air, but it is supplemented with a little bit of oxygen. Kris and Tiffany hope to be able to hold her again tomorrow. That all depends on how well she does.
As long as Mackenna is on the vapotherm, she will stay in PICU-South. So, you can still find Kris and Tiff there if you go to visit. Eventually, when Mac’s numbers are all where they want them, and she is off the vapotherm, she will be moved to Riley Heart Center. We still don’t have a time frame for when Mac will be transferred to the Heart Center or how long it will be until she gets to go home.
The latest news isn’t great, but it isn’t necessarily bad either. Mackenna had an episode today and had to go back on the ventilator. The doctors keep telling us that Mackenna is deciding how quickly she is going to progress. Today, she let us know that she needed the ventilator for a little while longer. As long as she is on the ventilator, she has to be fairly sedated. She’ll likely be on the ventilator for a few days before they try to take her off again. In the meantime, Mac is back on the nitric oxide, and they are going to try to wean her off of it again, slower this time. Her numbers all look good right now, so she’s stable.
