Josiah Update

After the tumultuous ups and downs of last week, people have been asking me to write an update on how our little man is - well, here's the scoop

He is doing much better - He was extubated on Monday (ie taken off the vent and put on a nasal canula) - which means he is doing all the breathing on his own with some oxygen support. He is still fighting the infection in his lungs and incision - however both fronts are starting to resolve and the infected holes in his tummy are starting to heal quicker than expected - PTL.

He is slowly being weaned off many of the things that were supporting him last week - today he was weaned off the fentanyl pain killer - which means that the only IV lines that he has now are in his head for the TPN food. Today was also a big day for Josiah as he was taken from the radiant warmer that he has been on and placed in an open crib.

So what does he have to do to get discharged from Children's Mercy - well obviously the infections have to clear up - but beyond that he is currently receiving all nutrition through TPN and Lipids - IV feeding - At some point in this next week they will start to feed him milk again - slowly at first - but before he is released Josiah must be having all of his feeding through bolus feedings of milk (Not a continuous drip feed). He also needs to continue to wean off his oxygen needs so that he can keep his stats (blood oxygenation) up on room air. Lastly he needs to be putting on weight through his feeding.

So the news is good for Josiah and he is on the upward slope of recovery - but there are still a few things to happen before the great day that we can finally bring him home - I am sitting beside Shari now as she is holding our little boy - He is now 73 days old - but Shari's due date is not until next Thursday. Let's pray that his homecoming is sooner rather than later

Jono