Today Gavin was taken off the ventilator and is back to an oxygen mask again. I was out of the room for the actual extubation but it went smoothly and he has been breathing well on his own since about 1:00, but still requires 50% oxygen.
When I came in he struggled to say his first words in 13 days. His voice is scratchy, rusty, and oddly high after being intubated for so long. Hearing him say a few little words brought tears to my eyes. I hadn’t realized before how difficult it is to communicate with someone who can’t speak. It is especially difficult because obviously he can’t yet write and so kept trying to talk. Heart-breaking.
He slept much of the afternoon but was quite active in the morning and early evening. He wanted to read books and play with a fun sticker/numbers book a friend sent us. He really focussed on it for at least an hour.
He tires easily of course, and has not had much to eat for a couple
of days. I can’t project how long his recovery time will be or how long it will take for us to get out of here but I imagine it will be several weeks. He is so thin and weak and shaky right now, and seems to have lost some of his sparkle.
But. There is talk of moving us back to our old room tomorrow. Hurrah! If not tomorrow then perhaps the next day.