Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Awesome day...

Oh, Friends...
THE BEST NEWS YET!
We are all smiles and joy up here in Room #2314!
Our Neuro Assessment this afternoon was nothing short of miraculous!
I am sure it is due to your prayers of faith.
About three hours after they stopped giving him the paralytic,
they decided to lower his sedation to a half dosage.
It wasn't long before we saw OUR little Bronson emerge from the quiet, lifeless boy
that has been lying in his hospital bed since Saturday.
He came to and made eye contact with both Matt and I. We are sure he recognized us!
He looked around trying to figure out where he was.
He made expressions we recognized.
He looked worried. Confused.
He scowled a little when he was bugged.
He got good and mad at our Nurse, Ian, when he didn't like the stimuli.
He gagged when they stuck the suction tube down his vent tube.
He coughed up some of that nasty mucus in his lungs.
He wriggled away when we squeezed his shoulder.
He pulled his foot away and curled his toes when we pinched the big toe on each of his feet.
He lightly squoze my thumb and reached out to grab it back when I pulled it away.
He cried when they brushed his teeth and cleaned around inside his cheeks and mouth.
He pushed against the vent tube with his tongue trying to get it out.
He raised his arms up by his ears and shook his head
while they scrubbed his head and combed his hair.
He took a few spontaneous breaths, stacked above the breaths the ventilator is making for him.
He put on a darn good show and we were all cheering like crazy!
...Prayers of gratitude tonight!
.
He was up and at 'em for a couple hours but is back under sedation now,
although they are permanently lowering the dosage in order to allow him to remain semi-conscious.
The hope is to keep him comfortable and allow him to rest and heal,
and prevent him from getting too agitated and grabbing at tubes.
.
We can't wait to see him again tomorrow!

Warming up...

They have finished the long 16 hour warming process
and Bronson is now at 36.4 degrees celsius,
and so far he is holding steady at regular body temperature.
They have taken off the top hypothermia blanket.
He is no longer getting a paralytic drip to keep his body medically paralyzed.
They have lowered the dose of sedative by half
to allow him to slowly wake up from his medically induced coma.
I am typing from his bedside and he is just now starting to flutter his eyes
and show reflexive movements, but nothing major yet.
Wait!
Just as I typed that Matt saw fidgeting fingers and a few toe curls!
That is the first of the minor motor skills we have witnessed so far!
We have been advised to wait to really stimulate him until he is more fully awake.
We want to reserve his energy until he is alert enough to show us what he can really do.
We don't want to wear out his muscles before he is conscious.
I am signing off to go hold his little hand and sing.
"Do As I'm Doing" is his favorite! Sing with us!
Let's see what this guy can show us!

Pneumonia update...

Chest Xray this morning shows the pneumonia in the right lung seems to be improving.
The new attending seems to think that the density looks more like fluid than actual lung collapse,
so they will continue intravenous antibiotics and hope it continues to improve.
Keep your fingers crossed!