A Good Day

I had to write again and tell you what a great day it was! It was supposed to be an uneventful day. During rounds it was decided we really wouldn't do anything new until Christian showed some progress with his reduction in lung secretions and a stronger gag and cough reflex. Okay, fine by me. He did have a few more CPAP trials so he did his time. On the midday CPAP trial, both the nurse and I noticed that he was calmer while breathing on his own. His blood pressure was lower, his heartbeat was lower, his breathing was rhythmic, his temperature went down (this is good because his temp has been creeping up around 100 for a few days), and he was overall more peaceful and relaxed with almost no storming. The nurse told the doctor and so the doctor said to let him go for another hour by himself. So that was 2 hours on his own!

Anyway, the doctor came in to see for herself and she was surprised by how much better he was doing on his own breathing. She's still timid about extubating but she noticed how great he was doing and ordered 2 hours on, 2 hours off. So 2 hours breathing on his own, 2 hours with vent assistance continuously. Just an hour before that we had a conversation about a trach tube, extubation, reintubation, etc. I told the doctor, "I BELIEVE that when you take that tube out of his mouth he will have no trouble." I know Christian can do it.

So after this great progression, my husband and grandparents, and I went downstairs to eat dinner in the cafeteria while my mother in law stayed with Christian. When I came back, the nurse had put Christian in a little, white T-shirt. This is big because the kid has been naked since the morning of the accident. It was so nice to see him all dressed (half dressed at least) and ready for me to come talk to him. Then she surprised me with the news...I GET TO HOLD HIM TOMORROW! I just about cried. I cannot tell you how much I think this will help him heal and, of course, how much I will enjoy this with all my heart and soul.

Christian still has a long way to go. His movements are very reflexive and stiff but he gets his arms moving, almost like he's weightlifting or trying to warm up his arm to pitch. It reminds me of a newborn's first movements. His eyes are not focusing right now. Well, actually, I don't know if they are. They were rolled back so you could barely see his eyes and only see the whites. Today, they've come half way down when you talk to him. But everyday gets better and I'm so optimistic.

Oh, and we moved rooms. We're still on the PICU floor but we got kicked out of the room for the most critical patients. So we went from most critical to less critical. We've graduated.

What a day. I only hope tomorrow will be just as good. If not, I have today and I'm thankful for that. As a matter of fact, everyday that we have Christian is a good day.