"A Successful Team Beats With One Heart."

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We cannot overstate the magnitude of the team that is working on Jacob. There are multitudes of doctors and support staff who are contributing to Jacob's recovery. Here's a bit of a breakdown:

PICU - The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit is a very special place for children with an array of rare, often life-threatening issues. The doctors have an unbelievable command of each situation, and the nursing staff makes a huge contribution to supporting these children's needs. Jacob's situation requires a massive amount of attention from this staff. Their main purpose is to get Jacob into a stable state so the Hematology/Ocology team can take over and address his deeper disease-related issues. It's truly amazing to watch these folks work. They really make a huge effort to remind us how much we are a part of the team as well. It seems their first priority is making sure that whether it's daily meds or a life-threatening situation, we are aware of what's happening at all times.

Hematology/Oncology - The work of this team (also known as "Hemonc") is mind-blowing. They are well-versed in bone marrow transplants, cancer cases, and the most intense rare disease cases that come into the pediatric hospital. This team is dedicated to treating Jacob's LCH. Last week there was a "tumor board" meeting about Jacob. This summit included the entire Hemonc team, as well as three of the foremost specialists in LCH treatment in North America. They came to a confident consensus about the chemo agents that have the best chance to knock out Jacob's disease. We couldn't have a more accomplished team on the planet to deal with this aspect of Jacob's health. We know that this specific group of people is giving Jacob his best shot to put this disease behind him.

Respiratory - There is a team of folks dedicated strictly to the flow of Oxygen and pressure going into Jacob's lungs. They come in every hour to notate his levels, tweak the oscillator, adjust amounts of Nitric Oxide (helps reduce pressure in the lungs) and make sure he is getting sufficient Oxygen to his extremities. Their efficiency is a large part of why we're still here fighting this fight. The goal of this team is to get Jacob to a point where he can move from the oscillator to a standard ventilator. This will put his lungs back to work part-time, as a step toward eventually waking him up to breathe on his own.

Surgery - Jacob's chest tubes were installed by a surgery team who comes in daily to monitor the amount of air and fluid coming out of Jacob's lungs. They are constantly evaluating the fluid levels, to determine the optimal time to remove the tubes. The removal procedure is apparently as standard as it gets, and will be done at his bedside (likely once Jacob switches to the standard ventilator).

Infectious Disease - Jacob has over a dozen points of entry into his body, including IV lines, chest tubes, feeding and suction tubes, and lines going into his Port O Cath (permanent IV). The Infectious Disease team is dedicated to monitoring his "fever curve" (how high the peaks of his fevers have been over the past few days) to gauge which combination of antibiotics will be best suited to his current state. With each tube and IV line being a separate point of potential infection, they carefully monitor him to guard against these infections, any of which could be bad...given his immuno-suppressive state.

Gastroenterology & Nutrition - While Jacob is sedated he has been placed on IV nutrition, known as TPN. As his condition has improved, they have been giving him a small amount of formula to stimulate the use of his GI tract, to prepare him for solid food consumption once he is awake. The Gastro team is dedicated to Jacob's nutritional health, and will be working closely with us to stimulate his diet properly once he wakes up.

This just scratches the surface of the impact this hospital has had on addressing Jacob's situation. We are overwhelmed and truly thankful that we've ended up in the right place to help Jacob heal.