Some good news. Lydia has sustained good oxygenation since the paralytic agent was discontinued this morning. This has allowed them to start cutting back on the ventilator settings a little. She’s opened her eyes briefly a few times in response to noise or a touch. That is pretty exciting. She still looks pretty out of it when she opens her eyes; that’s not a a surprise, with all that sedation. She also had a bowel movement, so the tube feeding rate is being turned back up. (I don’t think I ever expected to be so excited about a dirty diaper.) So we hope this is the start of improvement.
I am continually amazed by how much support Lydia and our family have received. Yesterday at church, many people talked to us and offered to help. While Charissa and I sat with Lydia last evening, we listened to a CD a friend had brought by. A teenager from church baked a peach pie with a pastry “L” for Lydia on top. Today when Winona and I got to the hospital, we met two of our MD friends who had dropped by to see how she was doing. While we were waiting for the team to round, I ate some cookies a friend had dropped off and drank a root beer from another friend. Later Ariana texted me from college to say that her roommates were fasting for Lydia—and she had not even mentioned anything to them about our congregation’s fast. When I got back to her room after trying to work today, I found a gift bag from Lydia’s speech therapy class with things she will like when she is awake. I’m sure I haven’t remembered all of you. It just overwhelms me—in a good way. I want to remember this generosity for years to come. It inspires me at least to want to be more generous. Hopefully I can actually become more generous (“both almost, and altogether”). Thank you again to all of you!
Kevin
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