08/12/2026
So this is a long update. I haven’t been posting anything simply because we didnt seem to have solid answers.
Last Wednesday evening, Andrew was in Cincinnati with his father, and step mother’s cousin, for regular specialty doctors appointments, nothing out of the ordinary. After his appointment they went to dinner. Andrew had a seizure and vomited, leading to the worst aspiration that he has experienced to date. He was taken, by ambulance, to Cincinnati Children’s hospital. He was eventually intubated to help him breath.
I left first thing Thursday morning to be at his bedside as well. He was heavily sedated, on pain management, antibiotics, steroids, all kinds of things. His X-rays of his lungs were awful, to say the least. I had to come home Thursday night, I have to other kids I have to care for, after all.
The next curveball Andrew started throwing at us was his blood pressure started bottoming out. 60’s/30’s. It was decided that it was the sedation and pain medications causing this. So adjustments were made. They also made the decision to try and remove the breathing tube Saturday.
Saturday morning we were up by 430 and on the road at 5 in the morning. His momma was going to be bedside, or die trying, for when they removed his breathing tube. His step dad and I made it, alive lol the original plan was to remove it between 10-11 in the morning, but it all depended on how fast Andrew woke up from sedation. The tube was finally removed around 2 in the afternoon. He was still really working to breath, but they gave him time to adjust. In the end, he was just working to hard so they placed him on a bipap Sunday morning. For those that don’t know, a bipap is like a cpap, but gives pressure when someone inhales to help support breathing, but doesn’t breath for them.
Then Sunday night came. His heart rate started dropping into the lower 50’s. Extremely low and dangerous. All other vitals remained stable and consistent, so they just monitored him really closely. Of course I had been in constant communication with his father, and step mother, through all of this over the phone.
I was on the road, for a third time, first thing Monday morning to be with him again. The doctors concluded that the heart rate was attributed to medications as well. Steroids can slow a heart rate, so they started weaning the steroid (it was to help his lungs from the aspiration), and one of his meds that had been temporarily stopped was started again. The medication that they had been holding can cause higher heart rates, but is used to reduce secretions. It was heals to make it easier for him to clear his lungs. This has fixed his heart rate situation.
Our goal now is to get him off of the bipap. He is tired, but strong, and heading in the right direction. It’s just baby steps, and progression at Andrew’s speed.
It’s hard being the parent that can’t stay at the hospital the whole time. I know people think I am simply not involved or don’t care and judge me for my absence. But trust me, I am flipping through every test result and care note made in the hospital app like it’s my bible, checking in during the day, and at bedside when anything big is happening. But I have two other kids. They start school this week and need their mom too. They still need as much of a normal routine as I can provide and all the emotional support I can give them while they worry about their brother too. Believe me, I am NOT absent. I am NOT indifferent. And I love that little boy with all of my soul.
