Healing is Not Linear

Things are moving in a slow, upward direction.  Yesterday they did a throat swab to test for a mycoplasma bacteria that can cause pneumonia. They're really wanting to identify what is causing this pneumonia, the influenza or a bacteria.  If they can get to the root, they know how to treat. We are still waiting for the results from that.

Brian and Merrick came by for a visit last night and brought Tyson's Xbox One from home.  Merrick played Xbox with Tyson for a while so that Brian and I could get out together.  I needed to get out of the hospital and into the fresh air! We went for a chilly walk, browsed Ikea and Winners, and then went to Chipotle for dinner. We came back to Merrick and Tyson laughing and having a good time together. It was really nice to see Tyson smiling again. 

Last night was an ok night. The good news is, they were able to wean his O2 from 60% to 45% and then this morning the nurse continued to turn the settings down, all the way down to 30%. The respiratory therapist came in and moved him OFF of high flow and on to LOW flow!! This is Tyson's favorite kind of oxygen because it's gentle and the nasal cannulas are the right size for his nose. 

He is doing ok so far when he's resting, but desats quickly with too much activity.  Too much activity at this time means standing up and walking to the bathroom 10 feet away. This morning was his first walk to the bathroom and he desatted to 74. The goals for today are to wean oxygen within reason, repeat the chest xray and bloodwork, and get him up and sitting in a chair and moving around a bit more.  Being on low flow O2 is more conducive to moving around. Hoping it helps him eat more and sleep more restfully too.

Tyson is dealing with some anxiety about his recovery, which is not at all surprising. Last night when we were up for a bit (because the nurse was concerned about his low heart rate, sitting at 40-41 when sleeping - which is actually normal for him as a Fontan and an active growing teenager) I caught him waking up and checking the monitors every couple of minutes. He knows that his O2 requirements are what's keeping him here and I am trying to reassure him that it's not his fault, and there's nothing he can physically do to improve his saturations. This is a lesson for him (and me of course too!) to trust God's timing. This is his first time experiencing the ebbs and flows of recovery, he was too young to remember the last time he was this sick. 

He was very depressed this morning when he woke up. He didn't want to eat, drink, pee, nothing. He is just so tired and is quite discouraged that he's not yet feeling like himself. But once the doctors did their morning rounds and he was able to express some of those concerns to the team, they reassured him that healing is not linear, there are ups and downs and peaks and plateaus.  The important thing is that he is now heading in the right direction. Immediately after rounds, he was able to eat and drink again because it really lifted a load from him. 

He had a really good day. He's doing well on the low flow oxygen. He desats when getting up to go the bathroom but that's to be expected right now. We were hoping he could have a shower today but it's still too much for him so maybe another day. 

My parents came for a visit and Tyson and his Grandpa played NHL '23 on the Xbox. (I tried too, but I'm pretty sure Tyson thought that was a boring game.)

He is maintaining his O2 sats with the low flow so far today, so praise God for that! We continue to pray that Tyson can rely on God as his source of strength, courage, and peace.