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Joe update

Thanks to those who have expressed their caring and concerns for my cousin and her family. Several people have asked for an update, so here it is...

My cousin's wee one, Baby Joe, has suffered a few setbacks. He didn't handle the extubation well at all, so he's back on the ventilator. He also now has an infection and a fever, so they're treating him with antibiotics. They reinserted a chest tube to remove fluid from around his lungs. And he's on steroids to try to relieve the inflammation in his throat and vocal cords.

Yet Mommy Kerry saw the positive. On her blog she wrote:

Joe's numbers looked a lot better to me. His alarms hardly made sounds today at all. His oxygen level was in the low 80s, high 70s. This will be normal for him until his second surgery when normal will be 80s. After the third surgery, around age two, his oxygen level should be in the 90s.

Joe had his eyes open quite a bit for me today. I sang to him and talked to him a bunch and the nurses put a mobile over his head for him to look at. He seemed a lot less agitated to me, except when they had to poke him for blood and had to suction his vent. He is requiring less pain medicine, which is a blessing. I know if we make small strides each day, eventually he will be ready for home.


She also saw the positive when writing about Daddy Jason's busy time at work as a high school band director during the spring season:

But it's hard to focus, I know, when your baby is fighting for his life 45 miles away, and suddenly things are put in perspective. He is such a wonderful husband and father. He truly has been a strength for me and has cared for us and loved us like he promised he would almost seven years ago. Jason and I have grown closer together during this trial and we're leaning on each other when we need to. This is a lesson I wish God would have given us in another way, but still a blessing.


They're all amazing to me. I guess you don't know what kind of inner strength you have until something like this happens. And it is a frustration that it has to happen at all, to anyone.

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