Day 17 - Evening

Coming off the breathing tube has sent things into fast forward motion. Just today the following happened:

• one of the drip sedation meds was turned off
• the other sedation med was cut back and should be gone by tomorrow
• we had our initial therapy session with OT and PT
• his oxycodone dose was cut to 25% of the dose he had yesterday
• the oxygen tube was taken off his nose
• one of the IV's that was monitoring blood pressure was taken out
• all remaining IV fluids are now going through the PIC line in his left arm
• some of his meds that have been on drip were moved to oral (via IV for now)
• Jake was more awake and alert the majority of the day
• his food intake via the feeding tube was increased

Whew, that's a lot for one day! I think for me, the biggie was just seeing how well he was doing breathing on his own and being more alert. A close second was the report from OT/PT. During the initial assessment, they were overall pleased. He was trying to steady himself while in an unsupported sitting position, he had some movement of the left arm and lifted the left leg from the knee. These were reflex actions, not necessarily on command, but they were pleased with what they saw considering he is just getting off sedation and has been lying in a bed for 17 days. We have not had an assessment yet with the speech therapist.

I also wanted to let you know that at the suggestion of a friend, I added a facebook page to make it easier for people to know when we post an update to the blog. If you want to "like" the page, it's www.facebook.com/UpdatesOnJake