One Thing To Cross Off The List!

So today we have good news. When I arrived at the hospital this morning Mike's Neurosurgeon and his nurse were in the process of removing his ICP monitor (cranial stint). This is a really good improvement. His doctor said that since his ICP has been well under 20 for the last 48+ hours he was no longer in need of continual monitoring. They also were pleased that when his ICP would go up a little yesterday and the day before that they would quickly come back down. They think he's "out of the woods" for worrying about brain swelling.

They also have taken him off the cooling blanket...hopefully for good. He is keeping his body temperature right around 37.7*C (or 99.9*F) and is being controlled with Tylenol. He is still shivering mildly but they don't think it's due to the low grade fever. They said they now believe its due to what they call "storming". This is when the brain is overloaded with senses and creates anxiety, they are giving him an anti anxiety med to counter it.

They are going to begin weening Mike off the sedation very slowly today and tomorrow. They want him to remain calm and make the transition as smooth as possible. He will naturally want to fight the ventilator so gradually waking him up will be better for him. It will not be easy for him to wake up and have to realize where he is, what has happened and that has needed assistance from a ventilator.

Our family will continue to pray for his improvement and are becoming more and more grateful for the blessings given to us so far.