Thursday, March 6, 2014

A Plunge Forward

Dear Ellie,

Today you took a considerable plunge forward.  The doctor ticked down on your mandatory respirator breathes from 30 to 25.  Two less breathes would have been plenty, but 5?  Impressive.  And scary.  Scary, because your lungs have considerably less support than before.  But you've barely noticed.  When oxygen desaturates from your blood, you know now to take a few extra breathes to catch up.  You even spent some time on your back without putting up a fuss.  

When you get down to 15 respirator breathes, you have the opportunity to take a stab at finally removing the intubation tube from your lungs.  Remember, you did it once before (without permission!) and you only lasted a few hours.  But next time, if it stays out, it'll be the single biggest conquest of your NICU stay yet.  Escape the respirator, and it will mean that both you, and your parents, can finally breath easy.

Let's just hope that your lung progress isn't erased at the end of the week like it has been so many times before.        

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