Where did that come from?

For whatever reason, Woody has suddenly started doing very well. Consider the following pieces of good news in the last couple of days.

• His ultrasound taken on Friday shows that his aortic clot is substantially thinning, and his kidneys have shed their retained water completely in one and almost completely in the other. This means they've pulled him off the amoxicilin, which he was on as a targeted prophylactic antibiotic for potential kidney infections.


• His blood gases have rather abruptly become so good that they are close to adult normal (his last blood pH was 7.43 and his last PCO₂ was 49. If you recall my last discussion on 'permissive hypercapnia' you'll note that his numbers were in the 7.23/83 range).


• His weight is now up to 1500 grams (3 lbs ~5 oz), which is considered a magic weight for such things as extubation attempts)


• His weight gain per kilo is up to just shy of 16 g/day this week, which is outstanding (I give the credit to Maggie, who despite her low lactation supply has managed to keep him in breastmilk up until the point that they ordered formula for three feedings a day to increase his iron intake).


• This is the real kicker: in the last three days, his FiO₂ (oxygen needed to keep him saturated) has dropped below the 40% mark for the first time in weeks and weeks and weeks. In fact, last night he briefly got down to 29%, which is a post-two week record. He remains in somewhat higher ranges when he's awake and active, but he is generally doing much better consistently.

The net effect is that he is doing so well that the doctors are actually going to play it a little safe when it comes to the extubation attempt. They want to give him every chance to succeed, and so they're starting the burst of steroids (assuming current trends) on Wednesday for a Thursday attempt. We can't wait to see his face.