Waiting to Exhale

Today is day 13 in the PICU. The doctors have been telling us they might extubate Vita (take her breathing tube out) this weekend. However, this morning during rounds Vita put on a great show for the doctors. The docs spent all morning and well into the afternoon debating about whether to extubate her now, or to wait. There is no way to know for sure if she's ready to breathe on her own, except to take her off the ventilator and "see how she does". If this sounds nerve wracking, it's even more so because the last time they tried to extubate her it didn't work out so well and they had to put the tube back in. After weighing the pros and cons for hours, Vita's team of doctors decided to go for it... and the tube came out at around 3:30 this afternoon. Ernie and I waited with baited breath, and crossed fingers, and tightly held hands as we watched Vita try to adjust to breathing without the ventilator. So far, Vita is doing well... but it will take about 12 hours to really get a sense of whether or not it's working out. During these first 12 hours, Vita still has some breathing support with an oxygen mask. If all goes well, the mask will come off tomorrow morning, and then two VERY exciting things will happen. 1) Vita will breathe with no assistance. 2) I will finally be able to pick her up and hold her! Here's a picture of Vita with her mask on. She's smiling, and looks much more comfortable! Breathing without support is the first big milestone in her recovery. Once the docs are confident in her breathing, we'll be moved out of the ICU to general care. The next big milestones will revolve around sucking and swallowing (the skills needed to eat). Once she can breathe and eat, they'll discharge us from the hospital to continue the recovery from home. We're cautiously optimistic about Vita's breathing, and we'll be watching her very closely all night long. Keep your fingers crossed!