October 27th: Day 42

Happy Birthday Daddy and also to Benjamin who is now 6 weeks old. Each week we make it thru is another milestone for little Ben. Ben continued to be very touchy throughout the night last night. This morning, his chest x-ray looked worse, they determined that his pleural effusion they've been watching was the cause of some of his agitation. A pleural effusion is an excess of fluid that accumulates in the pleural cavity, the fluid-filled space that surrounds the lungs. In his case, they were aware of this, but were hoping the tissues would reabsorb some of the fluid. This didn't happen, so they wound up having to insert a needle into his chest to drain the excess fluid out today...they got about 3 ounces of fluid off the left side. After speaking to his nurse, she said he instantly opened his eyes after this was removed and his sats went up. We are now awaiting the repeat chest x-ray...(he gets daily chest x-rays typically). For today, the original plan was to try to close some more of his incision, but I'm awaiting a call from the hospital to see if they feel he is now stable enough to undergo this surgery. Also, they had another head ultrasound scheduled to assess the size of the ventricles in the brain...his were enlarged on previous studies likely due to the brain bleeds he experienced. Also, there is a chest echo scheduled to assess his heart function. We were on a bit more of the emotional dip in the roller coaster ride of his journey yesterday and even though a lot is planned for today, we are hoping for great things for Ben today. Please continue to pray....

There is also an article in the Belleville News Democrat today regarding a bit about his story and the benefit my family is putting together for Ben's medical bills. It is definitely scheduled for November 14th at 6pm at the Smithton Catholic War Vets. A sincere thanks to everyone involved in setting up this event and to those who have donated their time and items for the silent auction and trivia night. As many of you know, it is uncertain how long Ben will be in the hospital hopefully on his way to recovery and if we will even be able to bring him home...we pray every day for miracles and God's grace for Ben and really appreciate everyones support. His is still a very long journey which we will gladly walk with him, this type of event will help to take some of the burden off of us.
With much love and thanks, Kelly and Dave