Later, July 15, 2007

Sunday night.

We just got back from seeing Michael. He continues to have a good day. We did learn that they want to keep him sedated and medicated through Monday, and they will re-evaluate on Tuesday. He is doing well on his "vacation" so they want to prolong it to promote healing of the trach.

The doctors tried to reduce his paralytic medication back to its prior dose today. They had thought that perhaps there was an issue with the syringe that continuously drips the medication and that when the syringe was changed, Michael might not need the higher dose. However, as Michael showed Mom and Dad when we went in tonight, it was no fluke. Michael keeps trying to breathe on his own -- so the medication has been reset again to keep him still. It was strange to see his little stomach muscles move as he tried to breathe before the ventilator, but they increased his dose as soon as we all saw what was going on.

Michael is still laying on his back, but he is tilted a little to his left now (since yesterday). Everything is going as expected, but Michael does have some issues with inflation of his lungs -- more so on the right than the left. Medication to thin the lung secretions has been very successful, as has the repositioning. We understand from the doctors that this is normal for children who are not permitted to move, and his blood gasses are just where they want them to be. He has chest x-rays periodically, so they are keeping a close eye on everything.
All in all, Michael is resting and healing and is stable. He heard us singing tonight, and he responded again. We just have to keep waiting, hoping, and praying. We know you are all with us.

Megan and Adam