Like a G6

My oh my, how time does fly!  The last two weeks have held lots of ups and downs for our sweet girl.  A partially paralyzed diaphragm, alternating episodes of lung collapse and pneumonia have all been part of our very recent past.  And that brings us to where we are now: extubated and breathing comfortably with the support of Vapotherm ("non-invasive" oxygen flow delivered through a nasal canula).  Since Josephine's right diaphragm isn't working properly due to a damaged phrenic nerve, progress is painfully slow.  Each day her ventilatory support level is stepped down, and so far she has handled things well.  If she manages to adapt to the decreased settings through this evening and tomorrow, there's a chance they may decide plication surgery to "tack down" her diaphragm won't be necessary, and (best of all) they may remove her cardiac lines.  Once those are gone, we'll (finally!) be able to hold her again.  Two and a half weeks without being able to hold and comfort her is waaayyyy too long!

Over the past couple days, Josephine has had decent periods of wakefulness during which she has taken to swatting at her butterfly mobile.  Just last night (the first night that Michael and I had been home since starting this leg of Josephine's surgical adventures), Josephine smiled.  We were a bit jealous that Grandma--who had generously volunteered to spend the night at the hospital in our place--got the first smiles since surgery, but we're super excited that Josephine is emerging from under the sedation and her sweet personality is still intact.  She has spent much of the day today playing and smiling and looking happy.  For us, it just doesn't get much better than that.

If all goes well, Tuesday could be cardiac line removal day.  From there it will be a matter of weaning down the ventilatory support to a minimal level.  No telling what could happen in the next week, but we're hopeful that we may be home by Thanksgiving.  What a wonderful cause for thanks!