Mandy’s Condition and Next Steps

Hey Guys,

It has been a really busy week and this has been my first chance to write an update. I apologize for that.

Mandy is doing great! She is growing like a little weed. It seems like every time that I hold her she is getting bigger. One really cool thing happened yesterday; I put Mandy in a swing for the first time. I wasn’t sure how she would react. At first she was a little fussy, and then she settled down and fell asleep. It was so cool to watch her doing something a “normal” baby would do. It is starting t feel like we are reaching the end of this part of the journey and getting reading to begin the next.

I have learned how to take out and replace her trach. It’s not as hard as I thought it would be. It is a little unnerving though, knowing that you have to get it back in place fairly quickly because it is her only way to breathe.

The doctors are weaning her off of the last of her pain medications, and the oxygen. If everything goes as planned, she will be weaned off about 10 days from now. Then they will want to watch her for a few more days and make sure that she is doing ok. After that she will probably be transferred to another facility.

Teresa and I want to make sure that all of the support Mandy needs will be in place, including equipment, long term care, home nursing etc. It will take 3-4 weeks to get everything into place. And the process cannot begin until after Mandy is discharged. So based on everything, it will probably about the first of June before she comes home.

Teresa and I are totally comfortable with the time table. We have some work to do to get ready ourselves, including taking CPR classes. Also we need to be completely confident with all the aspects of her care. We are still a little nervous about some things, especially the trach care. I for one want to do the change a few more times under supervision before I will totally comfortable with it.

Thank You for all your prayers and comments. They mean a great deal to us. It seems like just about the time that things get difficult, someone posts an encouraging comment.

Love in Christ
Michael and Teresa Blaes

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