June 6

 Brian is heading in a better direction today! I have no doubt that the many prayers, fasting, and good thoughts have contributed to this. I spoke to his nurse this evening and she gave me the update:

Brian is bleeding less. It is significant enough that the medical team plans to begin giving Brian blood-thinning medication to help his ECMO machine more efficiently oxygenate his blood. He was able to have a Hida scan today to check out his gallbladder's ability to pass bilirubin. His test came back that his gall bladder is functioning well. He is still having issues with his digestion, but they feel it is either just from reacting to the many medications he is on or from prolonged administration of antibiotics. His Tidal Volume was actually up to 64 ML as the nurse was speaking to me. She said that it had been between 30-64 ML throughout the day. This was something that got me a bit excited and then she warned me that it still isn't good. She doesn't like to see anything below 100 ML but did agree that 64 ML is a good improvement over 18 ML. She did also warn me that how Brian is positioned can have an effect on the readings. She says his left lung looks slightly better than his right lung and positioning can make a difference daily. She also reported that Brian's skin color is looking better. Overall, this was a really great report after a very challenging week!