Addison's Progress

A big day yesterday for Addison. The doctors completed an xray and a second ultrasound on Addison's heart and lungs to see if the valve that crosses both has been closed. They found that the valve has only closed a bit, not all the way and that there is still a haze over her little lungs. The doctors suggestion was that Addison was too small at this time for surgery and that he would like to continue with a third dose of medication to see if the valve will close on its own.

We agreed so Addison continues with another set of meds over the next three days and we will reassess her condition next week. We hope that the valve closes on its own and Addison can avoid surgery at all costs, unfortunately odds may be against us on that so we hope she can definitely grow a little bit over the next week if surgery is the only option.

Addison is definitley fighting hard and maintaining good levels of oxygen on her ventilator and remaining fairly stable with her blood pressure. She has had a couple good "poops" in the last few days and is still able to take some of mommy's breast milk by feeding tube. She has grown to just over 1lb and 8 oz now and grown to around 11 in long. Grow little girl...grow.

Dad and Mom have been able to visit with Addison everyday, reading her stories and showering her with love. We have been able to interact with her a little by touch changing a diaper or performing mouth care around her ventilator and feeding tubes. It is hard to leave her everyday, but we know she is receiving the best care possible.

Today we spoke with the doctors and have been advised that Addison's bloodwork has come back with some concerns, showing a low platelet count and high white blood cells. They also found some blood in her stool and are thus stopping breast milk feeds and testing her for possible "Sepsis" or infection. The doctors say that Addison still looks well but with concern of infection on such a small baby they are starting antibiotics immediately, while they await test results. The concern of infection is that Addison will not be able to have surgery until the infection is cleared (10 days) and that the likelihood of the valve closing on its own would be very slim. We pray that is not the case and that Addison can clear this valve issue up as soon as possible. We will keep everyone updated over the next 24-48 hours with results.