No One Even Noticed

Dear Ellie,

You are almost on 100 percent feeds by mouth.  Once you get there, we'll be able to pitch the feeding tube for good!  It's currently in your nose causing airway obstruction, so once we get it out, it should improve your lung function, too.  But you know, I'm not even sure if that really matters.  Your lungs have been coming along quite nicely since the last letter.  You went from 175 cc's of oxygen to 50 cc's as of this morning and your blood is still quite saturated, which means they'll wean you down further.  It's a rather funny/terrifying detail, but at one point, you were accidentally disconnected from your oxygen... for 45 minutes.  No one noticed because you didn't struggle very hard.  That can only be a good sign.

I'm amazed at how little respiratory support you need compared to just 3 weeks ago.  For comparison, here is a picture of just a fraction of your support 3 weeks ago, and then another picture of your support today.

Before...

After...