We were hoping Zack might be extubated this week but he's going to need a bit more time. His lungs are so much healthier these days but his breathing muscles need to be stronger before he can come off the ventilator...While he was on the ECMO machine, the ventilator was doing nearly all the work so he was barely engaging his breathing muscles. On top of that, the steroids he recently stopped taking (for lung inflammation) weakened his muscles a bit. So...Zack has started some breathing exercises to target his diaphragm and a medical student is working to find more ways to support this strength building. 

This isn't bad news, it's just indicative of how much he's been through and how far he's come along since. Some of the doctors have used the word "miracle" in regard to Zack and a little more time to heal is a minor thing when looked at in that light. 

Regarding his liver, he stopped taking an anti-anxiety drug called "neurontin" and his liver enzymes immediately dropped back to normal. Neurontin doesn't normally cause liver distress but he had just started taking it before his liver enzymes started to increase and it was the only change that coincided with it. 

As always, thank you for keeping Zack in your thoughts!