10H00
Gabriel spent a peaceful night with his cousin Silviana.
He seems to adapt well to breathing without the tube.
He smiles when you talk to him, although he still cries a little from time to time. The aim is to calm him down quickly so that he doesn’t tire himself out too much by breathing.
He’s got his pacifier back, which soothes him immediately.
Last night, he was able to take a little turn in his mom’s arms. I think it’s going to be a lot easier to hold him from now on.
What a joy to see him without that tube! We’re so happy!
16h38
This morning, a little stress. The blood results were not as good as in previous days. The PCR marker, which had remained around 0.03 for several weeks, suddenly rose to 15. This marker usually indicates inflammation or infection.
A liver marker has also risen and white blood cells have fallen (we keep track of all the results on a daily basis, which we transfer to an Excel file in case Dr House comes by and asks for them).
We then waited for the doctor’s opinion. And then, surprise: she tells us that the PCR has gone down. I don’t understand it anymore. She explains that yesterday’s result was worse. Except that yesterday… there was no PCR assay.
I check directly with the laboratory, which confirms that no results were obtained yesterday. I go back to the doctor. Finally, she tells me she was talking about the result from two days ago. But the one from two days ago was normal…
After consulting her register, she admits she made a mistake. It seems that the doctor before her misspelled…
Very reassuring 🙂
She tries to reassure me: even if the PCR has risen above the norm (> 5), there’s nothing to worry about for the moment, as Gabriel shows no clinical signs of infection (no fever, no respiratory distress…).
This rise could be linked to extubation. To be continued.
Today’s X-ray showed no worrying developments, which is rather reassuring, especially as regards the atelectasis in his lungs, which could have worsened temporarily after extubation, according to the doctor.
And indeed, our little Gabriel seems to be doing well. He sleeps a lot. He’s under sedation to stay calm and help his lungs gradually adapt to autonomous breathing.
A gastric tube was inserted through his nose to enable him to eat. After 24 hours on an empty stomach, he slowly began to eat again.
And now he’s taking full advantage of his pacifier, which he chews up with pleasure!
He’s always on oxygen via his high-flow nasal cannula (pulse air at 3 and oxygen at 5), enabling him to reach 100% saturation without difficulty. Perfect for recovering and regaining strength!
He still hasn’t evacuated since yesterday. Another doctor explained to me that, during extubation, the body concentrates its energy on the vital organs, in this case the lungs, and temporarily puts the other functions to rest. They’re going to keep a close eye on this, especially as regards the bladder.
The same doctor also told me that as soon as he wakes up, you have to take him in your arms to reassure him.
But today, he didn’t wake up. And right now, the doors are closed for two hours: they’re putting PICCs on two children.
Little by little, our champion is slowly but surely regaining the upper hand!
We’re counting on you to support him!
