Heading in the Right Direction

There is a big smile on my face as I get to share some encouraging news and some answers to prayer!

Emily's oxygen has been moved down to 40% (where it should probably stay) and her PEEP is down to 5. These are the key numbers that indicate the possibility of coming off the vent! Everything should probably stay the same today but the may take down some of the other machine settings on the vent as well that should make her breath rate go down (another big step in the right direction).

There is not an official plan in place from the doctors to start weaning her off the vent but the nurses are starting to talk about it more and everything seems to be moving that direction. From what Jason has gathered, the weaning off process can take a few days rather than being a quick change so we are still looking at next week at the earliest. And all of this is not a guarantee of getting off the vent but things are definitely much more in favor of that than they have been.

A funny anecdote from today...Emily had the nurses and her Dad laughing a bit this morning. She was kind of awake a little bit today when the nurses needed to move the tube a little bit further down in her throat. This actually happened twice. Emily decided to bite down on the tube so that they could not push it down any farther. When the nurses could get no further they asked her "Emily, do you understand that we need to put the tube further down your throat?" to which Emily nodded yes. "So you need to stop biting down on the tube, Emily." To which in true Emily fashion, she shook her head no. Of course the nurses won but it is so encouraging to know that she is comprehending, making choices, and that even the stubborn part of her personality is shining through. :-)

All in all, Jason is very encouraged and asks that we pray that she continues on this path and that everything keeps heading in the right direction. Yesterday marked two weeks on the vent and three weeks in the hospital. There is definitely a lot more work to do even after getting off the vent involving rehab, etc but it is wonderful to see some drastic improvements right now.

Tim and Jason are both doing fine and Emily's sister Callie may come again. Stephanie will come as soon as they take the vent out to help with rehab. AND, sweet Faith is doing really well too. She has a couple of times a day that she is sad and asks for Mommy & Daddy but grandparents, aunts & uncles, cousins, and the lovable dog Maggie are dong a great job of keeping her entertained and doing well.

So spend some time praising the Lord for what He has done and keep praying for Emily and her family.