in need of some big prayers!

I am home after working all night, grabbing a quick shower, shave and some clean clothes and heading down to the hospital. Kirsten is having surgery today, she is getting the ECMO machine removed from her little body. I am excited to see her off of that machine, it is a bigger step in the right direction, but she still has a long way to come. we also posted pictures of her with her brothers on her webpage. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kirstenhildebrandt
Also, last night the FW was asked to stop getting her all excited by talking to her. when mom would talk to her, her blood pressure would go up and she was trying to open her eyes. nice to know your little one remembers your voice. that made mom so happy, I got a phone call after that. she will remain in sedation though for a week or so, then we will see what happens with that. anyway, gotta fly, surgery is at 11:30 and I dont want to be late.

Again, thanks for all of the support, it has meant alot to our family.

Shane Hildebrandt

well kirsten is off of the ECMO machine and has a ton of room in her room now. she is going back on the dialysis machine though, kidneys are not working where they should be. she is recognizing voices while she is sedated and it shows on her heart monitor with her getting excited and raising her blood pressure. we got asked to leave again last night. she is so sensitive to touch and voice, the nurses says that is a great sign, so hopefully when she is off of the sedation, next week some time, she will think that she had a really bad dream.

shane

So glad to hear that things are improving day by day, hour by hour!

well we had a minor set back yesterday. they took an exray of her lungs and only one showed up on the xray. so they are going to sneak a tube down there into her left lung to see if it is full of fluid or what. she is back on dialisys, the machine that shew as on yesterday broke down so they had to put her on a new machine, not a biggie, but right now, she is so sensitive to sound and touch, they are limiting our visits into her room. when we go in there to see her, her blood pressure goes through the roof, which they don’t like, but it is a good sign that she hears us. after talking to the nurse this morning, she is still listed as critical.

so there is the update so far, I will post more when I find out.

shane

Shane,
I continue to pray for Kirsten and your family. Thank you for keeping us updated. I hope she is having a better day today. Tina

hey guys,

here is a quick update, she is doing good, making progress in the right direction. her left lung is clearing up and they are taking her off of some of that medication that is used to open up the little pockets inside of the lung. they are also turning down her respirator to see if she can breath more on her own. there have been a few times where she has been breathing above the machine,

here also in the last few days, she has been waking up from her sedation, that is not a good sign yet to me and mom it is a great sign. they have given her enough morphine to down a man or a horse and she was waking up and showing us her eyes. she could hear our voices and we would watch on the moniter, see her heart beats go up and also her blood pressure. she was squeezing moms hand yesterday for awhile. mom got to help give her a bath and play with her hair, a good way to pass time.

so I am getting ready to head down there myself, going to get some alone time with my baby. I also took some new photos of her yesterday so take a peek.

Thanks

shane

Shane: I just thought I’d send you a big hug. Sounds like you need one.

Great to hear she is doing well! More prayers sent for your family.

Thanks for the update Shane. I can’t imagine how hard this has been for you and your wife. Prayers continue to be sent your way.

Good news Shane! I continue to pray for you and your family. I can’t imagine how hard this has to be on you and your wife.

Eric

keep your chin up, we are all pulling for you and your family.

Shane, I’ve followed this thread since you started posting and I too have been praying for you and your family. I can’t imagine how tough this must be. Thanks for keeping us up to date and I’m glad to hear things are going in the right direction.

Shane-Kirsten and your family are in our family’s prayers here in Illinois. The good Lord will pull you all through this. Glenn

Keep up the fight and stay strong God will never give U more than what U can handel

Thanks for the update! God bless you and your family you have my prayers hang in there bud were all here for you guys if you need anything ever! Keep us posted

well I just got home from the hospital and she is still the same as earlier. she did however go down for her CAT scan so we will have to wait to get those results. they did one on her head and chest and lower abdomen.

when I got to the hospital this morning and said hello to the nurses, her little eyes popped open so say hello to me, then she went back to sleep with a few tears that I wiped away. it is tough to see her laying there, and I would trade places with her in a heart beat if I could, but this little girl is a miricle and I am getting to see some awsome stuff that the Lord is doing to other though her.

Again, thanks for the prayers and support, it means alot to me and my family.

Shane

Good evening all. Well my catscan went well today. We have not gotten any results yet though. But I did very good on the way there and back and while I was in there. They had to take me off the dialysis machine to take me and they are having difficulty getting a new machine up and running, poor Chris, he’s really trying hard though.

Other than that, my day is going very well. They did another bronc this morning and got a bunch of stuff out. They figure they will need to do it a couple times this week now to help clean out that left side more.

Mom is hoping to have more news tonight on the scan, but they probably won’t tell us anything until tomorrow.

Final update for today for the night/early birds.

Things are going well. The dialysis machine is running just fine. Yeah! They are catching up taking off extra fluids from the time I was off this afternoon for the catscan.

My lungs are sounding good and they were able to suction a good amount out of my lungs this afternoon.

Oh, almost forgot, I started getting feedings now, so I’m not just getting my “chicken soup” through the IV. Yeah. Unfortunately though I don’t get to taste it, but hey that’s ok. It’s another step to getting better!

All they said about the catscan is that it looked good. Hopefully tomorrow Mom will be able to get more information than just that. The radiologist needed to review it yet I guess.

Anyhow, it’s time for bed hope everyone has a good evening! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

shane

Shane,

thanks for the update, and continued improvement.

Pretty soon, she’ll be wanting to go hit the Spring Crappies.

I admire your faith walk, and trush in His hands in Kirsten’s healing.

Hi to my little buddy Lane.

Prayers continue for all of you, and especially for Kirsten.

Jack

Sounds to me like the Lord is answering prayer alrighttttttttt!!!!! You guys keep sharing and we ALL will keep believing and praying and rejoicing in the Lord for HIS love and healing power that is being shown to this little sweetie.

Thank YOU Lord!!!

Prayers sent.

Thanks for the updates Shane.
Sounds like she’s heading in the right direction, that’s great news!
Contiunued prayers for Kirsten and family..

Thanks everyone for helping this family and little girl with your continued prayers. They are VERY much appreciated. In case you didn’t know, Shane is the person who has done all of the cordinating of the Minnesota kids for the past ARM Events. His heart is in the right place for helping these kids and its GREAT to see all of the prayers and well wishes he has received when his own child is in a very bad situation. These prayers are helping and there is still along ways to go but with your continued prayers things are looking better. THANK YOU.
Thanks, Bill

hey thanks Bill for the kind words about me, I am guilty of being one of the driving forces in the MN BB/BS organization on trying to introduce these kids to our favorite pass time. I have had to put some plans on the back burner right now for the need of my little baby girl, once she is home safe and sound agian, then I will be back on the side action that I am making plans for.

here is an update from earlier today.

Sorry for the delay in getting the morning update posted. While I am in the PICU, Mom has decided to go to work in the mornings, today was a busy morning for her.

Well, the dialysis machine went down around midnight and they had to redo everything again. But everything has been going well since.

My water weight has gone down today so my tummy is much smaller. I had two more stools again for a total of 4 last night, I’m sure the nurses just loved that!

They took off my dressing off my neck overnight. My skin is a little irritated from the tape, but the nurses says it should clear up just fine.

Once Mom gets to come in and see me this afternoon she will update everyone again.

Again, even though she is making baby steps in the right direction, she is still listed as critical.

Thanks for all of the thoughts and well wishes, please go out and sign her guestbook, my wife is loving the nice notes that where left there. here is her link again.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kirstenhildebrandt

thanks

shane

here are a few new photos of her from todays visit from dad. I was just talking to mom on the phone and she woke up and was trying to cry and was freaking out pretty good. they are slowly downing her doses of sedation and muscle relaxers so this is going to happen for a bit.

shane

here is the new update.

Good evening! Well today has been quite the eventful day for me. They stopped my muscle relaxers today.

My chest xray this morning was a lot better than yesterdays. Still has white, but you can start seeing the air in it.

My drain tube has been “water sealed” if they don’t get anything else from it by tomorrow that will come out. My white count and CRP count have dropped again from yesterday, but if they don’t improve more they will probably end up putting a tube in the lower area to help clear out the bottom part of the lung.

They are continuing to pull an additional 25 ml out of what they are putting in on dialysis and they are working on getting me to the weight I was when I got here. Just about there, another 3 pounds!

I was a little low on platelets today so I did get a dose of those today. My albunone (blood protiens) were a little low also. But they are watching them closely.

My white count is down to 22.7 from 28 yesterday, and my CRP is down to 15.93 from 17 yesterday. Ways to go but getting there.

My catscan yesterday looked good. Every thing looked normal. YEAH!

Well we also have had an exciting late afternoon early evening. I woke up and I was responsive to my Mom. I was able to nod yes or no! That was very exciting for Mom, but scary for me.

shane

Thanks for the update sweetie [NOT you Shane, lol]. Prayers are being answered.

Good to see things going in the right direction! My wife and I have been reading all the progress. (And prayers sent daily).

Those nurses and NNP’s in the PICU are on top of their game! She is in great hands!

Thanks for all the updates, and look forward to the next one!

Quote:

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Thanks for the update sweetie [NOT you Shane, lol]. Prayers are being answered.

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Bill,
I sure hope you didn’t mean that for me. I would have to have a talk with Nate to find out if you where ok.

I will try to remember to take some new pictures today while I am there, got the boys having a sleep over tonight so me and the wife are going to stay down there a little bit longer tonight before comming home. here is what she posted this morning.

Good Morning All.

I had a good night last night. I woke up a couple of times but I was responsive and I didn’t get overly aggitated. My nurses talked me back to sleep.

Oh, I forgot last night to make mention. I heard there is a rumor that I am sitting up and eating. No, not yet. When we refer to my “chicken soup”, I’m not really eating chicken soup although that does sound good. That is what they call my IV nutrition that I am getting, it looks like watered down chicken broth, but it’s not. I am getting Pediasure through a feeding tube down my nose right now though. But no, I am not sitting up and eating yet. Sorry to disappoint everyone, but we will let everyone know when this does happen.

thanks again for the support

shane

Glad to here she’s on her way to a full recovery.