Hello everyone,

I just wanted to give everyone the latest update… Theo has had a rough couple of days. He has developed an infection, and while the doctors have quite been able to completely isolate it, all symptoms point to the colon / belly / gut area. He was doing well really well Sunday and Monday, and he was even able to have some milk on Monday, but then his condition suddenly worsened. He’s back on the ventilator and back on morphine, his belly is distended and red and sadly, he seems to be in some real pain. He’s on what one doctor called a "Nuclear Missile Assault" of antibiotics, and he’s had what seems like every neo-natologist, surgeon, nurse, physicians assistant and technician at CHOP in to see him, and they remain an amazing group of people. The doctors are frustrated that they can’t nail down exactly what is going on, and one of them said to Kat today, "He’s giving us some grey hairs." Funny thing… us too. Personally, I’m just hoping to have hair at the end of all this.

At this point, they have stabilized him, his vital signs are solid (with the help of the ventilator) and he’s classified as ‘critical but stable.’ They are watching him like a hawk to try to figure out what’s going on. Here’s what Kat and I have parsed out as the three possible next steps — Best Case: They figure out what is going on and treat it. Next Best Case: They never figure out exactly what is causing this, but the massive amounts of antibiotics clears up whatever it is that is causing it, even if we never complete know what it was. Case We’re Hoping Doesn’t Happen: Theo’s condition worsens (they start seeing higher levels of acid in the blood, the belly continues to expand, his platelet levels in his blood falls dramatically) and they feel compelled to put him back into the OR for exploratory surgery. Obviously, that’s not a great option, but again, he is at CHOP, and we do feel that if it comes to that, he’s got the best pediatric GI surgeons in the country working on him.

It is a very scary time, and Theo seems more fragile than he has at any time in the process, but through it all, he continues to be a real fighter. We’ve all noticed him giving us looks like "What the heck is going on here" look when he’s been awake. The good news is that nothing that has happened so far will have any long-term effect, and, of course, while Kat and I won’t forget this time, Theo will. And the other good news is, of course, that he is at CHOP which really is a truly amazing place. In other fun news, Jakob has been incredibly interested in Theo, and tonight, when I left to go to the hospital, I told Jakob I was going out, and he said, "Daddy see Baby Theo?" And he’s been really wonderful when we’ve taken him into the NICU to see Theo.

As always, thanks to everyone for your kind thoughts, words, karma and prayers. They mean the world to us.

Love,
Chris, Kat, Jakob and Theo