Day 13 - Airway away!

Good news. Daniel's airway was removed today. All the preliminary tests indicated that he was ready to have his airway removed so at about 12:45 today Daniel has been breathing entirely on his own. Being on a vent as he has for the past 13 days has its advantages (ya' know, like keeping the patient alive) but it also creates a breeding ground for infection that goes straight to your lungs. Getting this airway removed is a milestone for Daniel that we're happy to see him achieve.

Amanda (Daniel's sister) called today and we set up Facetime so she could talk directly to Daniel. I gave her a tour of the room by panning around with the camera and she was able to see just about everything. Amanda observed that he looked improved from a fw days ago and it was great to see Daniel tracking her image and making a connection with her on the phone's screen.

All the team are wanting for Daniel is to cough hard to bring up anything and get his body used to swallowing again. He's wearing this funky cup that gives him humidified oxygen, but his face is open to the air. He's looking around and making eye contact with us and watching Disney videos to relax.

Earlier this morning Daniel was transported to the Tub Room for his daily redressing of his burns. This is a lengthy process that can take 90 minutes or more to complete. Just moving him outside his room was a big deal because he was on the vent, had an array of IVs and of course they had to transfer him to a special stainless steel bed lined in plastic for the washing that takes place in the tub room.

Rounds this morning were usual with a new attending doctor driving the discussion. They are looking hard at all his infection fighting faculties (because with every redressing interlude his fever spikes for a few hours.) They want to be sure that he's in tiptop shape for his next surgery when they begin grafting.

His first grafting surgery is scheduled for Wednesday. They plan to do both arms (if all goes well). The idea is to get his "moving parts" aka arms grafted first since he will need them to do everything else (move, get up, eat, brush teeth, dress) as he recovers.

Daniel's off all his IV pain meds today. He's getting doses 4x per day of pain relief and I've mentioned how much better this is for his brain and general ability to heal. The room and his bed are looking more tidy. No Vent machine alongside his bed anymore, fewer tubes and wires. The dialysis machine is still here, but it's been unused for over a week. Every day around 4:45pm it shuts down and reboots - WindowsXP (eek!).

I'll update this post later today if warranted, but it may be that not much to report...
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I was wrong... This afternoon we have even bigger news!

Daniel sat up today, then stood on the floor and did some marching in place. This Kodak moment is the first time he's been standing in 13 days. We're quite proud of how well Daniel is complying with their requests and trying new things. I was at his side helping, but we felt confident enough in his standing ability for me to jump back and take a photo. He never registered any sign of pain through the physical therapy today so what they are giving him for pain seems quite appropriate. (Through all of this and probably for the next 2-3 months he won't remember ANY of it). This dude is amazing!