Saturday, August 21, 2010

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Caleb had a great day today! This morning, he was weaned off the drug that was paralyzing him. Now he is able to move and twitch and can even open his eyes. He looks very dopey when he opens his eyes, but he can do it. It is wonderful to see spontaneous movements instead of perfect stillness all of the time.

Caleb was also weaned off one of the drugs that was helping to regulate his blood pressure. His pressures dropped when the drug was eliminated, but it was still within the doctor's preferred range when I left.

We also made gains in the ventilator department. The oxygen levels were reduced to 50% and the number of breaths given per minute was reduced to 25.

Caleb received the plasma and that increased his clotting capacity and reduced his bleeding quite a bit. You would not believe the difference in the amount of blood on his body. He looks so much better!

They decided not to open the chest and see what was going on today. The cardiologists wanted to look, but the surgeons wanted to wait and see. Today, the surgeons won. The surgeons worried that opening things up would only increase other bleeding and because he was improving, they felt waiting was the best option. Knowing the gains we made today, they seem to have been correct.

I made it to the hospital in time for rounds this morning. After our progress last night and this morning, I was thinking that maybe I was overreacting yesterday morning. However, several times during the explanations of Caleb's situation, I heard "for someone that was so sick yesterday" and "considering how poorly he was doing yesterday". Things were probably as bad as we suspected yesterday morning, but he has turned it around today and it was definitely a good day!

6 comments:

  1. Praise God!!! Still praying for your little guy and for you guys too.

    Bonnie L

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  2. I totally agree...praise God!!! We are going to keep on praying for you all and love that I can look on your blog and know how you all are doing!! Hang in there!

    Shannon Stahl

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  3. Awesome news Jen. Still praying hard for you all. Love Matt, Bonnie, Cody and Bret

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  4. Your family has been in our constant thoughts and prayers. A month ago I bet you wondered how you would ever get thru this, and here you are pushing thru with great strength you didn't think you had! Hopefully the worst is over,and you will soon look back and wonder how you made it!
    Thanks for keeping us updated! We will continue to pray for all of you, as Caleb recovers. Remeber we are here if you need us!

    The Fuss Family

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  5. So glad to hear little Caleb is doing better. I thought and prayed so much for all of you at mass this morning--I'm offering everything I can think of for you!! :-) Rachel Mullins

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  6. Our prayers are starting to be answered. Praise God. It is so hard to undersand why God is always testing us. You and your family have stood the test so far and passing with flying colors.We are all still praying very hard. I am sending a note on your regular email. Love Ya, Pat

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