Piper would like to share her news

I know it is lame, but I am generally hesitant to write about Piper’s achievements. The reason, is that historically when I have chosen to announce what we took to be certain milestones, etc., she would invariably suffer a huge setback a day or two later. I am crossing my fingers (and toes) that this will not be the case today.

Piper has been doing generally well since she left the PICU for Blythedale, this time around. She has had her good days and not-so-good days, but nothing scary. Overall, we have noticed that she is a stronger baby. Not once during one of our visits, of late, has there been an instance where her oxygen saturation spiraled through the floor, requiring intervention by medical staff. As those who are familiar with Piper know, these episode used to be a very common occurrence. The decrease in the desaturation episodes has been an pleasing achievement (I’m sure as much for Piper, as for us).

In addition to Piper’s general disposition seeming to have improved, Reagan made an exciting discovery during her visit with Piper this morning. On her way out, Reagan ran into Piper’s doctor and was able to have a quick conversation with her. Apparently Piper’s ventilator settings, which have traditionally been very high (meaning that she requires a lot of support), have been gradually getting lower. Her “rate” setting, which determines how many breaths per minute the ventilator gives her, ranged between 30 and 40, when she was last in the PICU. Piper’s doctor informed Reagan today that Piper’s current Rate setting had been reduced to 12. 12! Less than half of what she was requiring. Reagan also learned that when and if the rate can be lowered to 10, that the patient is generally a candidate to be weened from the vent altogether. The doctor said that she wouldn’t try anything so drastic yet, mostly because Piper is burning all of her calories by doing so much of the breathing on her own. So many calories, in fact, that she hasn’t put on a stitch of weight for a couple of weeks. None the less, Reagan and I are completely amazed. We don’t really know what to make of it yet. Hopefully by sharing this information, I haven’t totally hexed her. Go Piper.