September 17, 2006

The last two weeks have been very quiet for Zach. The doctors have kept him completely sedated using a cocktail of three drugs (vecuronium as a paralytic, fentanyl as a pain reliever, and versed as a relaxation aid). The combination of the three made the last two weeks very quiet, Zach had a couple of incidents but nothing too major.

Early this week Zach contracted his sixth or seventh (we've lost count at this point) case of pneumonia. The doctors caught it quickly and he is recovering pretty well from it. Today when we went to see him he was awake for the first time in a while (as they have taken him off of the vecuronium). We managed to get a slight smile out of Zach before he wore himself out and went back to sleep. Zach's ventilator settings are largely the same and he seems to be maintaining pretty well. The doctors have started his feeds again (although very small at this point) and he seems to be tolerating them.

The next steps are to wean the Nitric Oxide and the fentanyl. Zach has been on the painkiller for so long that actually have to give him methadone to help him ease off the medication without suffering withdrawls. The doctors would also like to continue to increase his feeds and lower his ventilator settings. If we can continue to make progress in all these areas it would be great news.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, sorry for the delay in the update.