It’s official. The word has come down from chest, Gavin no longer needs supplementary oxygen, at night or any other time! We did the pulse oximetry test last week in hospital and he did extremely well, sticking at about 99 for most of the night, so we knew basically that he no longer needs the O2, but it was great to be cleared definitively.
This means we can finally pack up all the tanks, tubes and machines that are cluttering up our narrow little house and send them back to the pain-in-the-ass supplier that we had to deal with for so many weeks. The noisy concentrator that has whirred like a generator in our bedroom since January 11 will now be silenced. Bean is sleeping without some sort of oxygen apparatus on his face for the first time since November. This is a big day!
All tests seem to indicate that his lung function is good and returning to normal. The chemotherapy drugs that were so destructive at the cellular level are being slowly leached out of his system, I suppose.
Gavin has taken it all in stride and actually wanted to put on his “prongies” before bed because he’s so used to wearing them. After steering the conversation elsewhere, he forgot all about it and is sleeping soundly and well tonight.
I am so blessed, we are so blessed, I know I must never forget that.