Good news, Brandon watchers! Brandon is doing better this morning, and the meds they have him on seem to be doing the job. His oxygen through the vent is at 50% (they had increased it late yesterday to 60%, but were able to bring it back down this morning), but the pressure was reduced this morning, which is really good news. He was sedated this morning to have his PICC line inserted and all went well with that procedure. The docs decided not to redo the radial artery line. While it is normal procedure for them to change them out if they were done at a different hospital, they said this morning that, since the tests they are running through that line are only being done a couple of times a day, if they take it out they are not going to put a new one in, so they will just leave the one that’s there.
In other news, Brandon has developed a fungal skin rash on his back that is somewhat common for patients who spend a lot of time in bed, but the staff is treating with a topical cream and his nurse is going to investigate possibly adding an anti-fungal med through the new PICC IV line . . .
When I left the hospital last night, word on the street was that Brandon would be on the vent for another several days, but as of this morning, they think he may be able to come off the vent a little sooner, so I will keep you posted. Please keep up the prayers – they are doing amazing things!