Henry did well in surgery, but has had a battle since. He is doing much better now but that plateau has been a hard plateau to reach.
Once Henry arrive back to the PICU, he was settled in by his team. He looked good all things considered. We say that as parents, that are really glad he came back. It's so hard to wait and worry, and worry and wait.
Once back, the goal is to keep Henry stable. If he seems stable, he slowly has support mechanisms taken off. One big goal is to extubate him as soon as is reasonable possible. This is a huge judgement call and comes with it's inherent risks - the sooner the better in terms of keeping him from becoming too dependent on it, the sooner the worse if he still needs it. To re-intubate is not ideal, to keep him on too long is not ideal either. It's a gamble.
Henry was extubated early. He struggled for several hours after. His breathing shallow and irregular. He stopped breathing entirely a few times, and turned blue and then grey. At points there were as many as 12 around his bed to 'help' him recover. It was beyond stressful for two parents that are already emotionally exhausted. The good news is that he did recover, he is breathing and is getting ahead of the battle by breathing more and more regularly and deeper. Good boy Henry.
It is emotionally very hard to see him in so much discomfort. He cries silently, face wrenched. He is has opened his eyes a little, but not for long. Just long enough to show he is tired, he is sore, his feelings are hurt, he is sad, and he is confused. There is no way around this, just through, and we would happily take all this away if we could. We can't, we can just help him with it.
We thank you all for your support. Please keep it coming. Though Henry has done so well, he still needs his Village.
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