David had another good day! Overnight he had some small swings in his blood pressure but overall he was happy. He wasn’t peeing as much as they would like overnight but after hearing that while the doctors and nurses did their rounds he started to pee more. However they would like to increase it a bit more still. They are trying to get the extra fluid out so they can better close his chest. They increased his oxygen help a little to improve his saturation and are making small adjustments to his medication to get him in an even better spot than where he is now.
At about 1pm the surgeons came in and started the first stage of closing up his chest, by starting to just close the skin and tissue but not the bone. They initially thought they would try to go about 1/3rd the way but David, who will never do what we expect, let them close up half way! This should also promote the reduction in inflammation and start to pull the bones and lower half of his incision closed naturally. They will check under his dressings in a couple days and if it looks like it is ready for more closing and they will add more a little at a time as David says he is ready.
To help with reduction of fluids they have tubes in his chest between his skin and other tissue to pull out any other extra stuff that may cause inflammation. Also his dressing over his incision has a vacuum tube incorporated into it to pull extra fluid out.
His arrhythmia has continued intermittently and to a lesser extent than before. However it is something we will want to solve moving forward. David also has a blood cloth in his left arm which is causing him to have one finger a little dark. They have him on a low dose of blood thinner to hopefully fix that issue.
Eli and Anna arrived at 4pm when we had dinner together and then I went with them to the Endzone. Eli started out “reading” a book while Anna and I played hockey and basketball. After that Eli and Anna made some hot air balloons! To finish out their time they played with some toys and played some bubble hockey.
Throughout the day they have taking him off his paralytics and as I am writing this he is showing signs of small movement in his hands and feet and initiating some breaths. He is still on sedation which will keep him from waking up and moving too much but the small movements is what they want to see. His nurse tonight believes David is tapping his foot to the beat of the music we have playing.
It has been great, so far, to stack multiple good days in a row. It has, slightly, eased the always present underlying anxiety and given hope that we have found David’s correct path. We are far from out of the woods and have a long journey ahead. David will tell us what is next, like always.
To see his little hand hanging on to that lion ❤ he such a brave little guy. Praying for another good day tomorrow, making it three in a row.
It’s not just any lion, it’s his Gryffindor lion from the Harry Potter house of bravery.
The waterfalls from my eyes with joy of David’s progress… praise be to God🙏🏻 I am so glad to hear that there is music for David to listen to. I believe in the power of music. Eli and Anna sure have an abundance of things to do in the End Zone……sounds like fun!!!! Rest well David and keep growing stronger🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Oh, wow. So glad to hear this good news about David the brave. We will keep praying for healing for him, for his health care team in their decisions about his care, and for rest and energy for you two parents so you can keep up with Eli and Anna too. So glad the hospital has been a place for them to have fun!
Prayers abound by so, so many… Prayers of thankfulness and healing, prayers for strength and guidance, prayers for balance for the entire family… Thank you, Lord, for hearing our prayers.
We are so glad for David and all of you to have more stable days. Continuing to pray for healing.💕
Wonderful news! 2 good days in a row. Go David! Keep fighting
Eli and Ana will miss the end zone when David comes home. Glad there are improvements in his health. Still praying 🙏. All those machines in the last picture can’t be hooked up to him all at once!
Oh they are. Those are all his medications. Some are on continuous drips and others go when needed. There’s actually more of them on the back side of those poles. I think I counted 19 total last time I counted.