Sunday May 6, 2012

This was Dustin's first experience with Dr. Doom. Today Mallory's BNP had decreased more to 267 and her troponin went down slightly, but not enough to be a good sign (16.3). She isn't really making any huge steps in the positive direction. We aren't going backwards, but the one problem with ECMO is that she cannot stay on the machine for an extended period of time. Most don't stay on much more than 2 weeks.

At this point none of the cultures have come back positive so we turned off the antibiotics. We knew that was a possibility because when we got to the pediatrician on Thursday morning they immediately gave her antibiotics. I am thankful that they reacted so quickly even if we may never know what hurt Mallory's heart.

As soon as we got to go back and see Mallory today Dustin was very quiet. I think this morning was a bad day for him. It is crazy how you adapt to each others emotions. When to be quiet, when to talk, when to cry together and the perfect time to make a joke. I looked back at him and he had made a sign that has become her mantra and the mantra of all of the patients in her area.

It was through this sign too that I saw that Dr. Cuadrado is not as gruff as he comes across and it is just his style. He loves Mallory's sign and so does every person that walks in!









Today we had another great moment - today we saw Mallory's eyes for the first time since we got here. It was a perfect moment and she looked at Dustin and I for a good 5 minutes almost as if to tell us to be strong. Sometimes I think she is the one being strong for me.