Daily Recap

Andrew seemed a little grumpy today, but it was probably because he had a very busy day. First, he spent an hour in his chair while sprinting. They were only planning on putting him there for 10-15 minutes, but he seemed to be enjoying it. He was comfortable and relaxed enough to start to fall asleep, so they just left him there for the entire sprint.

At some point during the day, they got the results on cultures from a few days ago. His PICC line and arterial line both came back positive for some form of yeast, so they removed the PICC and replaced the arterial line. He's now getting almost everything through his central line (in his chest). He came off a couple of medications, so he's back to one row of IV pumps. They've also started to wean his steroid dosage....it will be a very slow process, but it's good that they're getting started.

He was massaged and exercised, read to and examined by doctors from a different department. By the time we left this evening, he was starting to look annoyed and paranoid that more people were coming to poke and/or prod him. Fortunately, he handled everything pretty well, and had a good day on the ventilator. They've continued to lower his pressures and he's still doing four sprints a day, an hour each time.

His feedings have been increased to 9cc per hour, which is a good amount until he can get the stomach valve surgery. We're still waiting to see how he does with his respiratory issues before they schedule the stomach surgery. Though he's had a few good days in a row, his left lung could cause a problem (and need to be removed) at any point, and we're still dreading the next attempted extubation.

Everything considered, it's been a great week. We're not letting our enthusiasm overwhelm the harsh realities that he's still faced with, but it's been really nice to see him awake, behaving, and getting stronger.