Update. (That's creative isn't it?)

Ryan was tired of lying on his back so we tried to accommodate him wanting to sit up!

Ainsley asked me the other day if we broke the glass on the t.v. could we get into the movie. If that were possible, I'd think I'd broken into Groundhog Day. I'm sure if I went back on the blog I could find posts from our days in the CICU about Ryan being extubated only to be intubated, progressing then suddenly at a stand-still, talk of under performing lungs and heavy sedation.  So forgive me if I sound like a broken record.

Ryan's issues seem to be from lungs that are not maximizing their potential so he's not getting the oxygen he needs. Remember, the way his heart is rewired, blood enters the heart by being vacuumed in when his lungs expand. Ryan's always has some sort of underlying pulmonary (lung) disease so it's no surprise he's struggling to regain full lung function. One of the issues may be as simple as him having gone on the heart-lung bypass machine.  When a person has open-heart surgery they're put on a heart-lung bypass machine which effectively stops the blood flow in the heart so surgeons can do their job. No matter how you slice it, it's hard on the body. 

Yesterday it was clear he need more support so they intubated (put him on the ventilator) in the early evening. All day his O2 saturations had been dropping and slowly but surely they stopped coming back up into acceptable ranges. When he was hovering in the 40s and 50s the team decided it was time to give his body rest and help him get rid of the fluid collecting in his lungs.  

His vitals are stable. Now it's just a question of how much time he needs for his lungs to rebound. 

The silver lining is that he's totally sedated... he's no longer angry, in pain, or will remember any of this. My anxiety level is lower now that he's no longer desatting and I know he's comfortable. I hesitate to show pictures of him on the vent for those not used to it, but I'm posting it anyway for those who want to see his little face.