Julian seems to have responded to the steroids modestly. So we're continuing to keep him on them at a reduced dosage. Specifically, his pCO2 was down to 43 from 54 or so. Also his bicarb (NaHCO3) is also down (I think they said in the 20s). What this means is that the pCO2 is probably "really" down because basically CO2 when dissolved is an acid. The body wants to keep its pH constant. So as a result it produces a base, NaHCO3, to keep the pH constant. The fact that the NaHCO3 went down indicates that the pCO2 has been down for a while -- long enough for the body to adjust to the new level.
He's still breathing quickly (tachypnea) and his heart rate has increased (tachycardia). The tachypnea we hope will resolve as his body figures out that it can "ventilate" (get rid of CO2) less with the help of steroids and as he develops healthy lung tissue that can get rid of the CO2. The tachycardia is relatively minor right now and not well understood.
We have decided to stay at UWMC (we were thinking of moving to Children's) as we're seeing progress and Julian is able to see the physicans he needs to see.
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2 comments:
Yay! Finally, some really good progress! I'm not letting up on the prayers, though.
Absolutely adorable new pictures! I am so glad that the prednisone has started working.
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