Update from Dr. Anderson

Dr. Anderson, the surgeon involved mainly with Memphis' recovery, stopped by and gave us a little update about what they have planned with his trial off. They are all very hopeful due to his numbers being so low for the last day. He has ordered the ventilator to be turned up. All this means is that he would like Mempis to be supported by the ventilator rather than the ECMO pump. One major issue with all of this effort is the dialysis pump. When coming off of dialysis, they need the kidneys to take back over and start producing urine. The urologist is stating that she is not confident that his will start back. This is not to say that they will or will not, but they aren't that hopeful as of right now. The easy solution to this would normally be keep him on dialysis. Unfortunately, this is not that easy. The dialysis pump typically uses the right side jugular vein for access on babies. Due to being on ECMO, especially for the length of time he has been on it, this vein is inaccessible. They can put access on his left side, but then all of the main venous flow from his head would be blocked, which would cause issues with blood flow and hemorrhaging in the brain. Which all are not risks they seem to take lightly, I wouldn't either. The other solution on a healthy baby is to diurese through a port in the stomach. This would be acceptable if he didn't have the hernia. This increases fluid in the chest, so they can't do it. It really seems that if he doesn't start producing urine, they are at a stalemate between his body and the pump.

His pump as of right now is down to .18, gas is .3, and o2 is 80%. the ventilator setting has been set at a rate of 40(up from 20), the o2 concentration is 60% (up from 40%).

Let's hope for some great urine output!