sorry about the long-time-no-talk, but we've had little to report. the hours and weeks are hard to distinguish from the ones before or after as we repeat our daily routine from our apartment to Ford's bedside.
since we last spoke, he has worked his way up from being allowed an hour a day on his back, to now being able to spend the whole day on his back or side, and then overnight on his tummy. they perform the occasional bronchoscopy to recruit his left lung, though only for the purpose of staving off pneumonias. "we'll keep trying to wean the vent" is a thing of the past as all are resigned to the fact that Ford won't be able to be extubated until he has a new heart.
he continues to be febrile and living under the bair-hugger and bags of ice, and is now, though still in a pod of four beds, under isolation for an "ARO" - anti0biotic resistant organism - his long time resident pseudomonas virus. the virus lives in the vent, so gloves, gowns and masks will be required for all staff as long as he is intubated.
discovered yesterday, he additionally contracted "h flu", or haemophilus influenza, so today and yesterday have been pretty uncomfortable for the little sickie.
his fluid balance and diuretics continue to fluctuate up and down, and the swelling in his face follows... same old same old.
he has, otherwise, been doing as well as he could under the circumstances. mostly stable and relatively happy, he only occasionally gives us a worrying reminder of his fragility. in those moments we all hold our breath and cross our fingers until he finds his steady ground again and the doctors part with "hopefully a heart comes soon".
he smiles a lot these days at almost anyone who tries to elicit a grin, and, now that he can be on his back and see around him, is remembering how to reach and grab for his toys and books. we've both been able to "hold" him a couple times over the past few weeks - where he is placed on our laps in the rocking chair - and though it's not like really getting to pick him up and hold him to our chests in our arms as we desperately crave to, it's better than nothing.
we've been graced with many out of town visitors - the trolls returned from Ottawa for a weekend visit, nana Rhonda and grandpa Leo were just here from Ramsay NJ, aunt Shawn and cousin Amanda from Sarnia, and this week, also from fair Sarnia, Ford's grandma Ruth is coming to town.
Rhonda got the first pictures of Ford's teeth, so we'll try to get those and post them here. they are very cute additions to his little face.
enough about us, how are you?
with pops (and fluid retention):
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