Caught in a Cycle

Early evening yesterday Ayden needed more oxygen-- back to .75 liters. Overnight, he received IV Lasix (instead of the scheduled PO), and he's now on .175 liters. Does any of this sound familiar to you?

This morning, when Ayden's resident, Alex, and the attending physician, Dr. Doyle, came to see Ayden, they asked if they could do anything for me. I hear this question asked every time an employee leaves Ayden's room, and I normally say, "No, thanks. We're fine." This time, I responded, "Fix Ayden," which, of course, implies that we are no longer fine. Dr. Doyle told me, "I'm trying, but I don't seem to be doing a very good job." I honestly don't know if what we are dealing with just needs more time or if the cardiac team on 6C need to be exploring some other possibilities.

Last night they checked Ayden's blood count to make sure he didn't need a blood transfusion. He doesn't. If today's chest x-ray doesn't give us some answers, Dr. Doyle wants to do a chest ultrasound. As usual, I will find out more at rounds.

Ayden did not receive Methadone this morning. Methadone has a long half life, so I'm not sure that we will see how it affects Ayden right away. I'm hoping that it doesn't bother him at all. Time will tell.