Eric had a little step backwards on Wednesday night. He was diagnosed with Pulmonary Interstitial emphysema (PIE). This is a sign that his lungs are being damaged by the ventilator. The airways and sacs in the lungs develop tiny tears and air leaks out of them, into the small spaces in the tissue of the lung. The air cannot be drawn out so you have to wait for him to reabsorb it. In the mean time he has been switched to a jet high-frequency ventilator, which is easier on the lungs. This sounds really bad but, amazingly enough the very next x-ray of his chest looked better and the x-ray last night was the best they have seen this far. This is all promising but is also a sign he cannot stay on a ventilator a moment more than he needs to. So, this weekend we will have to make the decision on whether to put him on steroids to help him get off of the ventilator quicker. There can be side effects to this but leaving him on the ventilator can lead to more serious problems.
We pray that he continues to respond well to his treatments and advances with the steriods with no long term problems.
The foot prints were done by Meghan, one of Eric's nurses. His feet have already grown about a toes length since birth. He is up to 2 1/2lbs. and is getting some meat on his bones. He is even well on his way to having chubby cheeks!!
