Logan Elias Pichardo was born on December 19th, 2015 prematurely at 29 weeks. The NICU fellow had told mom prior to his delivery that she would not be able to hold him because he would need respiratory support after birth. After that last push mom waited ... And there was nothing. No sound. No joyous response. No answers from the doctors. Nothing. She kept asking "is he ok? What's wrong?" Then before she knew it little Logan was placed on her chest and she was told to give him a kiss.
Things were better than expected. Logan was on cpap support for about 24 hours and then breathing completely on his own while sunbathing under the bilirubin lights in his incubator. The nurses were so amazed with Logan's strength that they expected him to be home by the super bowl.
December 29th, 10 days into his life and his stay in the NICU, he began having difficulty breathing. They had to place him back on cpap and he gradually needed more support from the ventilator. On December 30th he had his first of five lumbar punctures which caused him to crash and be intubated. Once he was intubated and stable they attempted the second lumbar puncture. Both were unsuccessful. At this point Logan stopped moving from the neck down. The doctors told mom and dad that he was tired.
Happy New Year? January 1st, 2016 - doctors attempted the lumbar puncture again finally getting a successful amount of fluid on the fourth attempt. By this time he needed assistance urinating and the doctors still couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. All the tests were coming back clear. No bacteria, virus or fungus could be found in his blood or cultures. Everyone was stumped. The doctors believe it's meningitis.
At at this point Logan was on 4 antibiotics trying to fight whatever infection he had. Nothing was working. His family insisted on an MRI to see what was going on with his brain. The doctors felt an MRI would be to dangerous for him so they compromised on a CT Scan.
The results finally came in, his brain was fine. No swelling. No irregularities. Just the grade 2 bleed he had from birth. At this point his family demanded an MRI of his brain and spine because the CT Scan did not show any signs of meningitis.
January 5th, 2016 - Logan finally goes down for his MRI after being being pushed down on the list for several days. His family waited all day for the results and finally the attending Doctor came over to Logan's bedside and told his parents "we need to talk". They were told that Logans entire spine was filled with a fluid from the cervical area to the sacrum and need to be transferred immediately for emergency surgery to Cohen Children's Hospital LIJ.
As Logan was being prepped for his surgery, his parents were also getting ready. They signed off on the surgery right outside the OR doors as the surgeon told them they have no choice. He promised to do whatever he could to save their little boy and would operate on him as if he were operating on his own child.
They wait.
Finally, The neurosurgeon came out of the OR and told them Logan did very well and was being sent up to recovery in the NICU where they would be able to see him shortly. He told them in his 30 years of practice he had never seen this before. He removed pus fromLogan's entire spine. His spinal cord was being compressed which is what caused the paralysis. The neurosurgeon did everything he could for Logan and ended the conversation by telling mom and dad " Logan is in gods hands now. Good luck".
Logan spent the next four months in the NICU at Cohen Children's Hospital LIJ. He had a very bumpy road. A lot of ups and downs. He battled through a lot and on April 19th he was discharged with a tracheostomy, on vent support and G-tube. He was headed to St. Mary's hospital for children where he would begin his rehabilitation.
Three months later, he is weighing almost 16 lbs and is 27 inches long. He is continuing his therapy and successfully completed 12 hours off the vent during the day. He has some movement in both his arms and has shown some signs of movement in his legs. He has great head control while sitting up with assistance and is very attentive and responsive. He loves his pbs kids and Disney Channel and loves to take strolls in his carriage outside. He loves bath time and has become a pro during his trach tie changes every night.
He he will hopefully be going home by the end of the summer where he will continue his therapy at home with mom and dad by his side in his awesome super hero themed room!
Logan's family could not have done this without having the love and support from all their friends and family. They even had people they didn't know sending gifts and prayers for Logan's speedy recovery. Logan continues to fill the hearts of everyone he is introduced to and he will forever be grateful for the love he received on his journey to recovery.
Things were better than expected. Logan was on cpap support for about 24 hours and then breathing completely on his own while sunbathing under the bilirubin lights in his incubator. The nurses were so amazed with Logan's strength that they expected him to be home by the super bowl.
December 29th, 10 days into his life and his stay in the NICU, he began having difficulty breathing. They had to place him back on cpap and he gradually needed more support from the ventilator. On December 30th he had his first of five lumbar punctures which caused him to crash and be intubated. Once he was intubated and stable they attempted the second lumbar puncture. Both were unsuccessful. At this point Logan stopped moving from the neck down. The doctors told mom and dad that he was tired.
Happy New Year? January 1st, 2016 - doctors attempted the lumbar puncture again finally getting a successful amount of fluid on the fourth attempt. By this time he needed assistance urinating and the doctors still couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. All the tests were coming back clear. No bacteria, virus or fungus could be found in his blood or cultures. Everyone was stumped. The doctors believe it's meningitis.
At at this point Logan was on 4 antibiotics trying to fight whatever infection he had. Nothing was working. His family insisted on an MRI to see what was going on with his brain. The doctors felt an MRI would be to dangerous for him so they compromised on a CT Scan.
The results finally came in, his brain was fine. No swelling. No irregularities. Just the grade 2 bleed he had from birth. At this point his family demanded an MRI of his brain and spine because the CT Scan did not show any signs of meningitis.
January 5th, 2016 - Logan finally goes down for his MRI after being being pushed down on the list for several days. His family waited all day for the results and finally the attending Doctor came over to Logan's bedside and told his parents "we need to talk". They were told that Logans entire spine was filled with a fluid from the cervical area to the sacrum and need to be transferred immediately for emergency surgery to Cohen Children's Hospital LIJ.
As Logan was being prepped for his surgery, his parents were also getting ready. They signed off on the surgery right outside the OR doors as the surgeon told them they have no choice. He promised to do whatever he could to save their little boy and would operate on him as if he were operating on his own child.
They wait.
Finally, The neurosurgeon came out of the OR and told them Logan did very well and was being sent up to recovery in the NICU where they would be able to see him shortly. He told them in his 30 years of practice he had never seen this before. He removed pus fromLogan's entire spine. His spinal cord was being compressed which is what caused the paralysis. The neurosurgeon did everything he could for Logan and ended the conversation by telling mom and dad " Logan is in gods hands now. Good luck".
Logan spent the next four months in the NICU at Cohen Children's Hospital LIJ. He had a very bumpy road. A lot of ups and downs. He battled through a lot and on April 19th he was discharged with a tracheostomy, on vent support and G-tube. He was headed to St. Mary's hospital for children where he would begin his rehabilitation.
Three months later, he is weighing almost 16 lbs and is 27 inches long. He is continuing his therapy and successfully completed 12 hours off the vent during the day. He has some movement in both his arms and has shown some signs of movement in his legs. He has great head control while sitting up with assistance and is very attentive and responsive. He loves his pbs kids and Disney Channel and loves to take strolls in his carriage outside. He loves bath time and has become a pro during his trach tie changes every night.
He he will hopefully be going home by the end of the summer where he will continue his therapy at home with mom and dad by his side in his awesome super hero themed room!
Logan's family could not have done this without having the love and support from all their friends and family. They even had people they didn't know sending gifts and prayers for Logan's speedy recovery. Logan continues to fill the hearts of everyone he is introduced to and he will forever be grateful for the love he received on his journey to recovery.