Friday July 27

Well, Christopher has had a very busy but good day.

I liked what one of his neuro ICU nurses said today,"Christopher is just cruising along." I took that as a very good sign.

First he had a CT scan to once again see how well he is progressing as well as evaluating his facial fractures that need to be repaired. The maxillofacial docs look to be planning to possible do arch bars and wire his jaw instead of plating it due to his fragility. They will make that decisiom after they look at the scan. They will do this next week in the OR.

Christopher 's endotracheal tube( that was in his mouth and connected to the ventilator ) to keep his airway open was replaced today with a tracheostomy. He tolerated the procedure well.

They also clamped his EVD today for 2 hours( the catheter in his head which has been draining spinal fluid ) and will remove it tomorrow if his pressure remains stable. His intracranial pressure has been in single digits which is just what we want for the past few days and remained low when they clamped the catheter.

The Neuro docs said when that happens we will be seeing less of them, which is a good thing. That was their words. They were very pleased with his condition.

Finally his team continues to decrease both the pain medication as well as the anesthesia drugs that have kept him so quiet, which means we will continue to see more brain and neurological activity a he begins to awaken.

The day ended with both Debbie and Randy having a smile on their face; something that made me smile as well. Keep the Heitzman's in your prayers. Thanks.