November 6th: Alive and holding

I'm not even sure what to write. It's not like I can even mention everything happening. There are two nurses in here who are continuously busy. Multiple doctors and another ecmo nurse are in here many times a day too. 

Ava's labs look slightly improved in some areas. Her lactate, however, is very high and that is a concern.  At this point there is more of a rush to make strides toward getting off ecmo. The longer someone is on ecmo, the more dangerous it is. It looks as if Ava will tolerate some fluid being taken off of her body. This is done by the ecmo machine since her kidneys aren't working.  Right now a piece of equipment on the machine needs to be changed because it stopped working/pulling off fluid and Ava needs a bit more blood, so we are waiting for that blood to get to the room. The goal is to to take off enough fluid that it starts coming off the lungs which are, at this moment, completely collapsed. This will be a lengthy process. I pray that her organs will start helping her out, her heart will pump with correct force, that her lactate will decrease -a lot, and that she doesn't have any bleeding/hemorrhaging issues, and that none of her organs are damaged.  The nurse on tonight is the same one that resuscitated her at EIRMC. She is a traveling nurse up there to help the EIRMC PICU get going. Shaun cried when he saw her. We were so thankful that there were 2 primary children's nurses on Ava's unit at EIRMC that night. 

We have a long way to go and this is still so touch-and-go but we can see God working and are so thankful for the unending prayers from friends, family, and strangers.