Tubes & Tunes

Today was really just a rest day for Micah and that is exactly what his body needs right now. After the chaos of the last week and the major surgery and dialysis whirlwind, today’s job was simple: heal.

He is still intubated and he is still on continuous dialysis. The dialysis is slowly (very slowly) clearing the toxins out of his blood. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and his body is taking its sweet time adjusting. In the meantime, he is dealing with a lot of swelling, especially in his arms and legs. His arms currently look like Popeye's arms. Except that his arms are the consistency of those cool NeeDoh squishy things that we're all getting our kids for Christmas. We are hoping that as his body stabilizes, the extra fluid can shift back into his bloodstream where the dialysis can actually filter it out.

The big thing we need next is for Micah to wake up. Before the team can safely extubate him, we need to see agitation, purposeful movement, and him following commands. To do that, we need his brain to be clear enough to send those signals. That means the toxins have to keep dropping.

But today brought a flash of encouragement. When we talk to him, he is looking directly at us. Not just a quick glance but a focused, steady look. His eyes seem to be trying. There is a kind of fixation there that tells us he is still in the fight. It is subtle, but it is something. And at this point, something is a very big deal.

Today did not bring big dramatic updates. No surgeries, no crises, no huge leaps. But rest days matter just as much. Micah is healing in tiny, quiet ways and we are holding onto every one of them.

We are still talking to him nonstop. Still playing music. Still telling him what is going on. Still waiting for that moment when he moves his hands or wiggles his toes on purpose.

We need him to come back to us. We are hoping tomorrow brings another small step.

As always, thank you for following along and supporting him.

-Hannah