~The Speth Family~: Last Ditch Effort

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Last Ditch Effort

I have been avoiding this post all day, but I promised Jean I would keep the blog updated so this is for Jean and her 200+ hours of taking care of Ammon in the CICU...

It took a long time to come up with a plan. It seemed like no one wanted to make the final decision :) Not that I blame them, but its hard sitting around watching Ammon de-stat while they deliberate. Pulchowski finally called the surgeon (Dr. Burch) who is on vacation and they made the final decision.

At almost 1:30 pm they came up with a tentative plan - cath him tomorrow and put a stent in the pulmonary artery while they turn the cath lab into an OR and try to do something with the aorta. Ammon decided that was a stinky plan and his oxygen sat kept sticking around the sixties (he was on 100% oxygen through the vent and the peep was at 8) So they took him for an emergency ride to the cath lab and are trying to insert the stent to hold the pulmonary artery open, which will supply the left lung with blood and buy them time until tomorrow.

Its pretty tricky because of his abnormal anatomy, but IF it works, they will take him to the OR tomorrow (probably in the afternoon). That's going to be the super tricky one. They are going to try to repair the aorta without putting him on bypass again because they don't think he'll make it on the bypass. If it doesn't work, the surgeon will plug the hole while they try to put him on bypass.

Everything is super risky and right now he has an extremely high risk of mortality. I will try to post tonight, but I can't promise anything.

Here are some pics of the girls visit with Ammon and making silly putty in the playroom.

4 comments:

Retta JeanMay 20, 2010 at 2:23 PM
Suzi...thanks for the post. Needless to say I'm worried about Ammon. I have been and will continue to pray for him (just so you know I'm not a big prayer...so I hope I'm doing it right!) I completely understand if you don't get anything posted tonight. Hang in there!
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AngelaMay 20, 2010 at 7:06 PM
We love you!! You are in our prayers!
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Tyler & LauraMay 20, 2010 at 7:49 PM
You guys are beyond amazing and we love you :) Hang in there!
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UnknownMay 20, 2010 at 8:58 PM
I've read your post like 7 times while crying like a baby, and still can't think of anything to say other than my heart is breaking for your sweet family! You WILL get through this. I love you and will be praying hard for you!!
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