The Next Step...

Dr. Glasser is back from Houston, and it looks like we are moving ahead with plans to try to transfer Kiera to Texas Children's Hospital. He says he has great respect for the doctors and the program there and thinks it will be a good fit for her. The lung transplant committee is currently reviewing Kiera's file to see if she is a good candidate for a transplant. It's still possible that we could go there and have tests run ( a cardiac catheter, a ventilation profusion scan, and a high resolution CT or bronchoscopy -I can't remember) that we can't have done here, and maybe a second set of eyes with better "pictures" could figure out what exactly we are dealing with in Kiera's lungs and find a non-transplant solution. Her CT Thursday seemed to determine that her right lung is hypertrophied and that the middle lobe may, in fact, be squeezing her trachea from 2 different sides. This may mean that her right lung has some dead space that isn't working and may be the source of her problems. We don't know if this is correctable. It may be the impetus for transplanting her. If we end up with transplant as our only option, I will be in Houston with Kiera for a minimum of 3-4 months depending on when a donor is found. Jer will come back and forth.

In the meantime, her peep has been lowered to 5 from 8, and she seems to be doing well with it. Last night she was giving us these giant belly laughs just because I was smiling and tilting my head at her. It was hysterical! I hope you all get to see it some day.

Therese