Last night they started BJ on the ECMO, which is the procedure that bypasses his lungs by pumping his blood out of his body, oxygenating it, and then pumping it back in through these big tubes. The doctors told us he has a 40-50% chance of surviving this disease. That was really hard to hear.
Last night Whitney and I stayed at the hospital. It was a hard night, but this morning BJ had taken a good turn and his oxygen levels were up. My family and I had to have doctor checkups today away from the hospital, and we're on a general antibiotic as a precautionary measure. They still aren't sure if BJ's disease is bacterial, because the antibiotics he started taking about a week after he got home (for the cyst under his arm) were probably just enough to kill the bacteria, so now the cultures won't grow. While we were gone, his oxygen levels started to drop. The doctors did another surgery to move one of the cannulaes (ecmo tubes) to increase his blood flow. So now the oxy levels are climbing again. They still aren't where we want them, but it will probably be a back-and-forth battle for a while.
Keep battling, prayer warriors. He's fighting for his life.
-Lauren