Cardio-Thoracic Park 🦖

Hold on to your butts...yesterday was a doozy.

Micah is settled in the cardio-thoracic ICU and resting after what can only be described as a rollercoaster of a day, yesterday. He’s still not fully “awake” yet and he remains on the ventilator, but even in this in-between state, we’re seeing small signs that his body is fighting its way forward.

This morning we’ve been playing music on his speaker. We’ve been talking to him a lot, too, and we’re starting to get the tiniest visual responses. When we mention playing pool together or bring up Kaleigh (one of his absolute favorite people on this planet… mine too 😉), he lifts his head just a bit and his eyelids crack open the slightest amount. They’re tiny movements, but right now tiny means progress!

His coloring is also looking better. He’s no longer full Bart Simpson yellow. He’s more of an “old banana” at this point. We’ve been saying he’s been Doled. Progress is progress, and we’ll take it.

The kidney doctor checks in every morning to look at his numbers and determine if Micah is ready to start dialysis. The plan is still the same: dialysis will help take over the job his liver can’t handle right now, filtering out toxins and giving his body some desperately needed backup. At this point, we don’t know what will happen first: Micah waking up or Micah starting dialysis. We’re letting his body choose which step it can handle next.

So far, he has beaten the odds at every turn and continues to move in the right direction, even if the steps are small and his chances are still on the low side. For now, we’re celebrating the little victories: the head lift, the flicker of an eyelid, the less-yellow shade of yellow, the humor we can still find in all of this, and the fact that, against all expectations, he is progressing.

And after the chaos of how yesterday started, this outcome, so far, is one we will absolutely take.

-Hannah