The vicious cycle - it's what the parents refer to the ups and downs of this journey. We went to sleep on a positive high and came in this morning on a low. Jordan was unable to stop bleeding last night - even after the successful surgery. He is still losing too much blood. The consequence: they changed the ECMO circuit this morning.
The process of changing the ECMO circuit is actually not a big deal. Not including setup, changing the circuit only took about 50 seconds. It is possible that Jordan could have an inflammatory response on top of the one he just had from surgery. This could cause other issues, such as his lungs closing. What's hard for us is knowing that he's on ECMO, after major surgery, and having trouble clotting where he needs to. It is a very significant problem.
We are hoping that a new circuit will require less heparin because it is clot free. Less heparin means that Jordan may be able to stop some of the bleeding. The bleeding is occurring in his chest where they had to make the incisions. They said it's like peeling a scab open under water. The scab would have trouble healing because of the moisture alone - his wounds are also dealing with heparin.
Hard for us to call this a vicious cycle when they are giving our son a chance to live a full life. But, the ups and downs, twists and turns are very difficult to handle emotionally. We hold hope dear and are becoming stronger as we endure all of this. Baby Jordan is greatly loved!
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