Anne Marie Dutcher's Struggle Continues

11/9 UPDATE: Well, everything has basically been pushed back 24 hours. Anne Marie was going to try to come off ECMO today, but "she threw us a curve ball," as the doctor put it. An X-ray revealed a pneumothorax, which required a surgeon to come put in a chest tube. So, barring any unforeseen complications tonight, she will try to come off ECMO tomorrow. ~ Brandon Dutcher

11/8 UPDATE: Anne Marie has no idea what's in store for her tomorrow. She's been on ECMO for 23 days now -- "we're living on borrowed time," one doctor said of that unusually long run -- and it's time to come off. The plan is to trial her off tomorrow morning and then, if conditions are favorable, decannulate and keep her off for good. To put it bluntly, it's sink-or-swim time. So again, I would ask you to petition her Heavenly Father to declare: "I will ... put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD." ~ Brandon Dutcher

11/6 UPDATE: This afternoon...Anne Marie was taken off ECMO for an hour. The doctors were cautiously pleased. "Her numbers aren't gorgeous," one doctor said, "but I'll take 'em." At this point, so will we. - Brandon Dutcher

Medical procedures continue in a Dallas hospital as doctors struggle to preserve the life of baby Anne Marie Dutcher, daughter of Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs Vice President Brandon Dutcher and his wife Susie.

The baby was born with severe organ disarray and complications.

Writing on their blog last night, Brandon Dutcher related, "Yesterday and again today, the doctors took Anne Marie off ECMO (the heart-lung bypass machine that is essentially keeping her alive) for a 30-minute stretch to see if she has what it takes to make a go of it. Both times the results were disappointing. It's a very real possibility that she simply doesn't have enough lung to survive. Tomorrow morning at 11 the entire team of doctors wants to meet with Susie and me. I'm not sure what they're going to say, but I gotta admit I'm not getting warm fuzzies about the whole thing."

Update From Susie Dutcher: "Her renal function is a serious concern. Her pulmonary hypertension is still a problem, and the doctors have almost maximized the options to help with that.Today is Anne Marie's 20th day on ECMO. The 'normal' time period for a CDH baby is about 7-10 days. There comes a point where the complications from ECMO begin to outweigh the benefits of staying on, and we are getting close to that point. So eventually she is going to have to come off, and the doctors told us that it's better to do it in a controlled setting rather than having a complication arise which forces them to 'crash off' ECMO. When she has tried to come off ECMO the two previous times, her oxygen level has been OK but the problem has been with her carbon dioxide (she hasn't been able to get rid of enough of it). The doctors can help with this using the vent, but if they turn the vent up much higher there is a possibility that it could permanently damage her lungs."

Share |