And on the seventh day he rested

And rested.

And rested.

Tiernan has been sleeping more than ever today.  As of last night, he is only on versed as needed.  Otherwise, he has been on Ativan (which lasts longer), Precedex and Methadone.  Methadone makes him itchy, so to help him, they started giving him some Benadryl as well.  That combo has knocked him out.  He is so sleepy that he isn't even bothered by things like suctioning (which used to send him right over the edge) or dressing changes or straight caths (for a urine sample). 

But with all this rest has come good healing.  They pulled his LA line this morning and have weaned his vent settings down.  They are almost at the point they want him to start trials off the vent tomorrow.  So it is a great thing he got such great rest today, because tomorrow, he works. 
He is breathing over the vent at least half of the time and usually gets good quality breaths at that. 

His BP has been lower than normal, but nobody is concerned because he has such strong pulses, (I used to really struggle to feel his pulse) he is warm and has....wait for it....GREAT PERFUSION!!!!! 
His lower BP is more than likely due to his being so sedated.

His "fever" is still gone and I'm going to go with my friend Kathryn's theory that it was just Disco Fever.  The docs seemed willing to accept that diagnosis as well. 
Even so, there is simply too much at stake not to treat it until they can be assured that nothing is growing.  (24 to 48 hours), so he is on some good antibiotics. 

He is now getting full feeds through the NG tube.  This is such a great step.  It is also important because if he tolerates his feeds then they can stop using the IV access points and switch to oral meds.  He lost 2 of his 3 PIVs over the past 24 hours, in fact.  When they did surgery, they generously placed 3 PIVs so that there would be an abundance of access points.  But, unfortunately, they just don't hold such volumes.  He has a ginormous hematoma (bruise doesn't seem to be a strong enough word to describe it) from the first PIV that blew.  They were putting in blood products in preparation for the LA line removal and the blood "infiltrated" the surrounding tissues, so they had to pull it.  The 2 PIVs in his feet are a bit red and so one was pulled as a precaution and the other one is not being used.  So in the wee hours of tomorrow morning, he will have a new IV placed by a woman who can, "get blood from a turnip".  They hope to pull the IJ line (in the neck) tomorrow because that is just asking for infection. 

Everything else seems to be fine at the moment.  We are just really hoping that he will wake in the morning ready to rumble and get that vent gone! 

Sadly, my parents and Tristan had to say "See ya later" as they are off on their journey back to Missoula, by way of Puyallup.  I know Tristan is looking forward to seeing BFF Michael on Saturday night and play like crazy with cousin Evan for the next undetermined number of days.  
We are so grateful for their presence it's impossible to even articulate.  It has meant so much to us to have them here and allowing for Tristan to be here as well.  We see kids hanging out, totally on their own while their parent is in with a sibling.  It is priceless to not have to split ourselves too much.

We will manage on our own, but I am sad to say "Hasta lavista" to our Tristan.

Look for some good updates about our strong EXTUBATED Tiernan tomorrow!