Ben's turn....

You can tell this is Ben writing; he refers to Fin as 'dude' :)

"Fin continues to improve in many ways. He's really making great strides. Blood pressure, heart rate, lung function, tone and color, all look good. He's on a lot of different medications and low-grade fever is an issue, but that's to be expected. It's not uncommon in surgeries like his to take a "second look" and see if everything going on in his gut is working for the best. He may have extra fluid, he may have abscesses, he may still have an infection. They aren't going to push his ventilator settings and try to get him off the breathing tube anytime soon... he's showing signs of not needing it as much, but there's no reason to push him, considering everything he's been through. It's quite amazing to see him awake and aware, opening his tired eyes and smiling around his breathing tube. We look at this little bundle of miracles and think, dude... why are you smiling? Don't you know what you're going through?! But that's always been Fin. Through each hurdle, through every trial, going to the brink and back, he's been a happy baby. I have always held on to that."

More from Jess - 1/31

He had a great night, he was awake for a good portion of yesterday, starting to fight his ET tube. These are good signs. He had a bit of a fever and a slightly elevated heart rate last night, but the docs aren't too excited about it either way. He's truly holding steady. The surgeon came in to see him yesterday as well and he said the ileostomy looks great. His belly circumference went down a bit. All good signs. Thank you for the Fin blog! He's such a cutie pie! And an amazing fighter to have made it this far!!

Had a good night

I hear he had a good night last night. Let's keep sending them prayers! I'll post any details I get.

~Tina

Jessie's update today

Below is Jess's update from facebook:


Yes, it started as RSV, then a secondary bacterial infection in his lungs. Then his blood cultures came back with a bug growing somewhere. Then his pH was acidic. So it pointed to his huge swollen tummy. The plan was at first a compartmental decompression, but the films showed air outside the bowel. Surgery. An hour into surgery they called ... See Moreus out to let us know that a very large portion of his intestines had died and there was a lot of infection, gangrene, to be cleaned out. Gave us 3 options. Two of them being horrible. We ended up in middle ground, with the surgeon taking out all the stuff that wasn't viable and leaving marginal tissue with the hopes that it would get some profusion and come around. When he went back into the OR, much of the marginal tissue had pinked right up and was getting a pulse. So he ended up taking 30 inches of small bowel, which was much less than anticipated. Now we wait and watch his pH, hoping they don't have to go back in for anything other than reversing the colostomy. He's been pretty touch and go, but mostly pretty stable with lots of help.

Goes without saying - thanks for the prayers.