Day 21 - 3 Weeks in ICU Burn

We were greeted today by a sitting-in-chair Daniel who was chillin' with his OT/PT friends. He was doing okay then his oxygen dropped a bit so they added the mask, but otherwise he was just fine sitting up. This activity is great to get his lungs and body working a bit harder. Here's a photo of Daniel with Dawn sitting together (him chair, her stool): You'll notice the buzz-cut he got when admitted and was in the tub room for the first time to gauge the extent of his burns. The surgeon wanted to be sure there were no extensive burns under his hair. He did have a few slight burns, but they've mostly healed by now. When ready for any grafting to his face the surgery team will harvest some of his scalp skin to match closely to his face.

Daniel was out of bed for this morning's stint about 50 minutes before he signaled (by leaning forward expectantly) that he was done and needed to pivot back into bed.

A short while later we were visited by a therapy dog. 🐕 Her name is Lucy - a golden retriever. She seemed a bit timid about entering the room. Maybe it was the gowns and gloves we had her put on (just kidding). Actually her owner isn't permitted in a room if required to gown up so she extended Lucy's leash so Lucy could walk in and visit with Daniel - Well it was mostly Daniel's floor that interested Lucy, but Dan glanced over and noted her presence. 🐶

Back at home our dogs know something's up. For starters they aren't getting all the table scraps that Daniel "accidentally" slips to them. Their sad-eye Jedi tricks don't work as well on Dawn and I. I believe they DO miss Daniel being at home as do we.

Daniel continues to cough which is THE thing he needs to be doing to clear his lungs. Sitting up, standing and general exertion are key tasks for his recovery right now. Daniel will be leaving for wound care in the Tub room soon. That signals lunch time for Dawn and I then we'll spend the afternoon with him and try to get him up again.
=======================================================================
After Daniel's return from wound care his breathing began to drop intermittenly. He hit a new low so there's concern, but we're addressing it. Team Daniel used NT suction (don't ask) to help clear his airway and we've got him sitting up. His breathing is a bit weak at times, but he's getting air; just not enough (>90%). Just awhile ago the respiratory therapist stopped in to administer his daily CF therapy medication through a nebulizer and then some more NT suction and he's doing better.

That activity will continue through the night - NT suction, getting some good coughing to clear what's deep in his lungs and out and keep rotating his body around letting gravity do its thing.