Good news all around

All the nervous watching and waiting on Woody's performance on the CPAP culminated in this morning's blood gas test, which was pretty critical; his test on Sunday was well above the threshold for the CO₂ target that was set for him on Friday (it was up to 83, and they wanted it 70 or lower), but since his pH was still good (7.31) they decided to see what today held. So we were pretty much as nervous as we've been this morning to know whether or not he'd show some improvement that would let him stay off the ventilator-- and we got it. His pH is an amazing 7.37 and his CO₂ went down to 74, which is still not exactly awesome but it is a definite improvement, and shows that he's headed the right way.

Our good news did not end there. His oxygen needs are improving; on Friday they were in the 70s and 80s, all weekend they were in the 60s and 70s, and today they're down to the 50s and 60s. He also got his weekly metabolic tests, which show that he has marked improvement in his processing of a number of different nutrients. This seems like really good news because his last set of tests were taken while he was on the ventilator.

The final bit of good news is that he was able to gain weight overnight for the first time since the extubation (up 60 to 1645, for those of you following along at home). I am feeling very sanguine about his chances, and I don't think he is going back on that ventilator any time soon, if at all. I believe in Woody!