Christian’s Journey

On September 2, our beloved Christian was admitted to Mercy NWA in Rogers, AR for COVID Pneumonia. With all the precautions and protocols in place around COVID, we were not able to see him while he was there. He would go through this without the people he loved and trusted by his side. Terrifying for him and both Tyler and I. He seemed to progress at first but started to deteriorate on September 9. On September 13th he was moved to ICU, completely terrified that he would be put on the vent. At 5 AM on September 14th, they emergency intubated him and placed him on the ventilator. Later that morning, the Pulmonologist contacted me regarding his condition and our one option. Yes, that’s right option. We were down to one, an ECMO machine. This is our Hail Mary, our last shot at saving his life.

They immediately started the process of locating an ECMO bed within helicopter distance, any further, we would need a jet to transport him. They called Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Saint Louis. The Pulmonologist warned us that there may not be a bed available for him. Within an hour he called me back letting me know they found a bed, they were starting the process to life flight him to Little Rock Baptist Health! They had an available ECMO bed and were saving it for him! Tyler and I rushed to Mercy NWA to see him. They were allowing us to FINALLY be with him because they now considered it to be “Comfort Care”……..Tyler and I spent the next 2 hours absolutely pouring love into him and quite a lot of tears as well. They allowed us to stay with him until the flight team arrived. We then went out to watch them take him away from us for what could have been possibly the last time we would ever see him again. To say that day was rough is an understatement. Tyler and I just clung to each other as we watched him leave completely terrified.

The ECMO machine has quite the history, it was originally developed in the 1920-1930’s to save pre-mature babies that are born with underdeveloped lungs. This machine filters out the CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the blood, replaces it with O2 (oxygen) that is then pumped back into the body to provide the O2 rich blood to the rest of the body allowing the lungs to rest, develop, and heal as needed. There is an excellent movie that was made on the development of the ECMO machine: Something the Lord Has Made. All you Harry Potter and Die Hard fans should appreciate the cast!

After his fancy ride, he was immediately taken into surgery to place the cannulas for the ECMO into his legs. The cannulas are the hoses that transport his blood from and to his body, they are about the size of an adult thumb. They would then start the process of taking him off the ventilator and waking him up to see how he tolerates being off the ventilator. If he was still unable to maintain his O2 levels he would need to go back on the ventilator. He did very well and has remained off the ventilator.

He’s set some records at the hospital. Several firsts for them, like being awake while they moved the cannulas from his legs to his neck. Yes. He was awake. He absolutely did not want to be back on the ventilator or sedated. They used local anesthetic and other drugs so he would be able to remain calm and not remember anything. After the procedure we got a “went amazing” text from him. And his team confirmed it. He’s the first ever, and he did amazing.

We are now just over a week into our journey in Little Rock. We are not out of the woods by any means, but we are finally moving in the right directions and our prayers for miracles are being answered. ECMO treatment is an extremely long-drawn-out process, and he will literally be connected to the machine for weeks. When we say weeks, we mean weeks. He will be in the same room, connected to the ECMO for a minimum of 3-6 weeks. He is improving every day, some days are slower than others, but he’s overcome so much already that we are absolutely thrilled for each step forward no matter how small it may be. Once he’s off the ECMO, he will then go to a regular room and then to rehabilitation and then, finally, home.

His biggest challenge is anxiety and panic, which is extremely common with ECMO patients. Imagine waking up in a strange place, you need to take a deep breath, go to take that breath, but you can’t. Your natural reaction is to take another breath…but it’s not there, you start to panic even more. We’ve put pictures on his wall to remind him we are there with him regardless if we are in the room or not. It is very common for ECMO patients to suffer from PTSD and our amazing Christian needs all the support and help he can get to help him get through this.

Tyler and I are in Little Rock and have been since September 15. His team has recognized that we help him focus and keep him calm, especially Tyler. Doesn’t really matter how long it takes to get him home, just as long as he makes it back to us. We miss him more than words can express. We’re simply not whole without him and we’re doing everything we possibly can do to make sure we stay together and make it home. We will get through this, not matter how long the road to recovery is or where the destination takes us, we will get through this, together.

So we invite you to donate only if you can to help with Christian's medical expenses. Tyler and I have also had to get temporary housing so we could be close to him. But most of all we ask for your continued prayers for we know Christian will be victorious in this fight! God Bless you all.