Fine Friday

Andrew seems to be doing better with the fever today. It came and went a few times last night and into this morning. The Tylenol seemed to do the job for a while, but it would return after the drugs wore off. After a couple of cycles, it seemed to go away entirely. They also had a cooled blanket that they were using to take the edge off and protect his vital organs. His temperature never got too high, and he was alert and unconcerned through much of it....he didn't even seem to notice that he had a fever.

He's continued to do well on the ventilator, occasionally having fits and needing more support, but generally trending toward better settings. He had a little leakage of stomach secretions around his feeding tube, so they've lowered the volume on his feedings temporarily. He's responded well to the decrease in steroids from a few days ago, and most of his remaining medications seem to be working as intended.

So far they're sticking with the current plan....focusing on getting his muscles stronger, weaning very slowly on the vent, and working toward extubation. It could take a month or more before he's ready to try being off the ventilator again, so we'll need to be patient and enjoy the fact that he's awake and interacting a bit again.

And for those who are wondering, I have no idea where the video below came from and I was just as shocked as all of you when I saw it. I have to assume the snake had been de-fanged from the baby's lack of reaction to the bites. I am always amazed by differences in culture that can result in something as foreign as this to Western sensibilities....I'm sure it's some common rite of passage, but it's certainly freaky to watch.