Massimo’s ventilator settings have been changed a little but nothing much else has changed. He does seem imperceptibly better, and his night nurse who has looked after him for the past three nights, agrees with me. His heart rate is the lowest it has been for a long time which is a really good indicator but unfortunately his upper right lung isn’t inflating well and therefore although his breathing is OK his carbon dioxide levels are still quite high.
We had a brief chat with a consultant who made it very clear that being neutropenic and on a ventilator at the same time is a VERY bad combination – being on a ventilator generally means that it is only a matter of time before you get an infection. Neutropenia means an inability to fight infection. Unfortunately, the best chance of getting Max off the ventilator is a large dose of steroids, which brings with it more susceptibility to infection. With the balloon dilation now not possible until March 1st, steroids seem to be his best bet. He has responded well to steroids in the past, so we are keeping our fingers crossed.
We decided that we always try to show you the “good” pictures and so here are a couple of pictures of when things are not so good.