March 13, 2010 - 22 Days Old - Kidney Dialysis, Day 3

Written March 13, 2010 11:55 pm 

(From CaringBridge Page)

This morning Alicia slept in until late morning & awoke more restful than she had in over a week (except for the fire drill alarm that went off in the middle of the night).

Jayden had a slightly damp diaper overnight but still not the soaking he needed to have. He kept his numbers fairly stable until later morning when they noticed his blood pressure was starting to drift down slowly. He did have a couple more slightly damp diapers (still not the soaking he should be doing) so it is still not promising his kidneys will restart & by the evening we hit the end of day 3.

Here's where we are:

Good:

  * Very good tolerance of Mommy holding him the night before.

  * First signs of wet diapers in over 24 hours

  * Potassium in normal range and BUN & Creatinine coming down (still way too high).

  * No increase in swelling in some areas & even a small drop in others.

Not Good:

  * Having a harder time keeping the blood pressure & sodium up.

  * Red (probably blood) showing up in the dialysis drain which persisted all day.

  * Red & brown showing up in the GI tube.

Bottom line:

(1) Kidneys can take up to 5 days to turn but it is EXTREMELY RARE hence the saying of "If they don't turn by day 3 they probably won't". Is what we are seeing the beginning of the turn or just a last whisper? No one can tell us for sure.

(2) Blood in the dialysis line & GI line can be signs of stomach & bowels shutting down & even possible bowel death.

(3) Blood pressure falling may be a sign the heart is almost done.

If none of the good signs had appeared it is highly likely she would have called it by now but she can't ignore the possibility he COULD be about to make the corner. She decided as long as he is continuing to fight, she will give him that chance as far as he wants to go until day 5 if needed. If however his heart goes out in the meantime then it is finished & it was time.

Alicia is staying the night in the parent’s room again & Grandma Shelly is home for short snooze.