Late Night Update

As Alissa pointed out in the previous post, Judah is not quite well today. He is on a respirator for the next few days. His doctor likened putting him on a respirator to having a cast put on a broken bone. It will give his lungs a chance to rest and dry out. What his doctors do know is that his lungs are suffering from a severe inflamation. What they do not yet know is the cause of the inflamation. Cultures were taken during the bronchoscopy and it will take several days to get back the results. In the meantime, Judah is on steroids to reduce the inflamation and he is on an arsenal of antibiotics in case he is suffering a bacterial infection in the lungs.
Judah has had a long standing fear of developing pneumonia, and it is possible that this is the cause of his current troubles. He also has a long standing fear of intubation (a process of ventilating his lungs by passing a tube through his windpipe and into his trachea). In order to keep Judah intubated while his lungs are being treated, he has been sedated into a complete sleep-like state. Without the heavy sedation, the doctors fear Judah would be uncomfortable, panic, and possibly try to pull out the tubes himself. He will be reevaluated tomorrow to see if he can breathe comfortably on his own.
In the meantime, this means that he is not able to receive visitors. Some of you were hoping to see Judah this weekend, but unfortunately, those plans will have to be delayed for now.
I also expect that many of you will want to call our mom, but she will undoubtedly be exhausted. She has Alissa and me with her, as well as all of the prayers and best wishes of you all. Please be patient while Judah recovers and continue to send him your love.