Wednesday, October 1, 2025
Well Bobby… I don’t even know what to say this morning. You continue to scare the hell out of me.
Brennen has been struggling with his neurological exams. He had another CT around 3 a.m.—and honestly, it takes longer to gather staff and move him there and back than it does to run the scan. Right now he’s on an EEG and video monitoring so they can track his brain activity. The plan today was to take him back to the OR for another look at his abdomen to be sure there was no bleeding and, if all looked good, finally close him up.
He still has the ECMO in place, but it’s currently clamped off from oxygen, and so far he’s holding his saturation at an “okay-ish” level. Neurologically, he didn’t show much improvement, but he’s still moving all of his extremities with real strength — strong enough that it takes two people to hold his legs down when he fights.
Surgery was supposed to happen around 1:30 p.m., but, in typical hospital fashion (and due to other emergencies), it didn’t actually start until 4:40. During the operation, the surgeons reconnected the damaged portion of his small intestine, checked all of his organs thoroughly, and decided to remove his appendix since it looked suspicious. While they were in there, the cardiac team also removed him from ECMO.
He’s now back in his room, still on the ventilator but needing less assistance than before. Both the trauma and cardiac teams were pleased with his progress and surprised at how quickly his lungs have started to bounce back.
For now, he’s resting, and we’re hoping for a calm night. Tomorrow’s plan is an MRI to get a closer look at his brain function now that he’s off ECMO.
“Thank you all for the prayers, love, and support. This kid is a fighter, no doubt about it. Today was a tough one for him — and for us — and tomorrow will bring more waiting and more hope.”
~ Dad