Random Update

I am actually updating the blog from Ryan's room today. The connection is touch and go, but it is nice to be sitting in here typing instead of down in the cafeteria or back at the hotel.


Ryan continues to make slow progress. He went down to 40% on the vent last night just before I left (I forgot to include that last night). He has remained on the 40% except for when they have adjusted the vent to allow him to do more of the work. He was on pressure support (he does the breathing with very little support from the vent) for 2 hours this afternoon! Yes, 2 HOURS! He kept saying he was hot, not because he had a fever but because he was getting such a workout. He was also able to do the trach mask for about 10 minutes this morning and might try again in about 1 hour. Currently he is on his regular setting and taking a little nap.


Ryan also had physical therapy this morning. They have come in at other times and done some work with Ryan, but today they had him doing exercises. He was also able to sit up on the edge of the bed for about 2 minutes (after a lot of other work this morning). The physical therapist was pleased with how strong Ryan was and she said that maybe tomorrow they would try and get him standing next to his bed!


Note: I was asked what would happen for Ryan to be reactivated to the lung transplant list because there is a little bit of confusion. Once Ryan is able to meet the walking requirements (450 ft. in 6 minutes) and anything else the surgeons require, he will be back on the list without any other testing. They will determine his LAS based on his oxygen needs and such, but he does not need to go through all of the testing that we did to get him on the list the first time. Ryan will just step back into his place in line -- probably still at #1.


If you have any other questions about anything, do not hesitate to ask! Thanks for your continued prayers!

Here is Ryan sitting on the edge of his bed. He was getting really tired, but still glad to be up and sitting. Helen (PT) said that he was holding himself up and she was doing very little work. His hair was spikey after his bath this morning :)