"He thought of the many roads he traveled, and of the strange way God had chosen to show him his treasure" -Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist)

Lana has had a good weekend. We truly treasure every moment we are able to spend with her, especially when she has her good days. She seems to tolerate weaning down from her sedative medications… so far at least. Of course she occasionally requires a PRN dose whenever she gets agitated, but hopefully she continues on this trend. The morphine infusion was slowing down her gastric motility so much at one point that she wasn't digesting anything at all. With the dose being a lot lower, she has resumed her bowel movement (aka pooping). Furtherore, she also recently had an eye exam to assess her Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), and it LOOKS like her eyes are okay (see what I did there?). We were worried that her issue of not oxygenating adequately would cause the blood vessels in her eyes to grow improperly, which in turn could cause visual impairments. However, her pediatric ophthalmologist gave her a passing score. =)

The next big bridge to cross is to put her on a conventional ventilator. She is still currently on a High Frequency Jet Vent (see video below). Hopefully, it can happen sometime this week if she is showing that she can handle that transition. The conventional vent will allow them to use inhaled tobramycin to treat the infection site locally. However, this type of vent maybe a little more jarring for her. Then again, just like anything else, plans are still day to day.

Her PDA is still very patent, and we're praying that it closes on it's own without surgical intervention. This is a long shot, but maybe her stars will all start to line up in the near future. She's been working hard to get better, and luck is a residue of hard work. =)

Thanks to everyone who has supported us through these difficult times. Special thanks to Frank and April for watching over our dog Rico so that we could do some house repairs and visit longer at the hospital. And of course for the lactation cookies. I really... err, I mean Kelly really loved them. It certainly did the trick!

Also, thanks to everyone who have continued to pray our family. You guys literally help keep us going. We never cease to be amazed by all the kindness you all have given us. Thank you!