Slow Day

Today was one of those days where you feel you didn't move forward or backward, just sideways. Mia herself was very good today, taking lots of breaths on her own. For the most part she was at least adding a few breaths of her own beyond what the machine was giving her. Occasionally Mia would have some good periods where she was doing most of the breathing on her own. I think for most of the day, she only had a few periods of time of 5 to 10 minutes that she rode the machine entirely. Also of note was that our sister in law Jennie got to hold Mia for almost two and a half hours today! I'm not sure how she was able to stay in the same position for so long but I'm glad Mia got to be held for so long today.

Rachael and I got to meet with Doctor Piroozi today. He is the very nice doctor that has been positive in regards to Mia and her progression. He said that looking everything over that he was happy with her progress up till now and that we would just have to be patient as they continue to ween her off of the ventilator.

Speaking of the ventilator, Mia is currently at 15 breaths per minute. It does not appear that they will be lowering that tonight. We will find out tomorrow morning how her body is processing the CO2. My guess is, she will probably have to be at 15 to 17 breaths per minute for a few more days before she will be ready to go down more. There still isn't a lot of correlation about why she sometimes chooses to breath over the ventilator and why sometimes she is content just to let it do the work. I did mention to Dr. Piroozi about Mia seeming to prefer to be on her side while breathing and he seemed to listen to it more than the doctor yesterday.

The doctor also explained the muscle biopsy more today as well. He said that Mia had some slightly larger than normal muscle tissue. The doctor said that for the most part, this is not that significant of a finding. There are still a lot of other tests to be done on the muscle including I think a test to see how she metabolizes her energy and stuff. I am not sure when that result will be in.

So, all and all, today was a good day but I think we are starting to get close to the point where we are going to have to be patient and just watching Mia and seeing how she progresses. This will be hard for Rachael and I because some days might be up and other days might be down.

For prayer requests for Rachael and I, we continue to ask that you pray for mental and physical energy. Rachael actually had to leave the hospital really early today because she was very exhausted. She ended up sleeping most of the day. For myself, I'm close to mentally exhausted as I have ever been. Being an engineer and that mindset I'm always trying to come up with a plan and unfortunately, there is no plan to be made right now. If I ever had to describe how this whole thing is feeling right now, it's like being on a merry go round and not being able to get off, no matter how much you want to. Rachael and I know that God has a plan for everything and we know that we have to trust in him and to lean not on our own understanding.

Rachael and I have been touched to hear of just how many people are praying for Mia and for us. People all over the world have Mia in prayer and it really uplifts us emotionally and spiritually to know how many people are praying for us. Please feel free to spread the word as much as you can to any churches and prayer groups you want to. You may also freely distribute the link for those prayer groups as well if you feel led to do so.

Thanks again for all your prayer and support.

Robert