FEBRUARY 15, 2020
Today. It was a good day.
I write this while soaking up the laughter and squeals of Landon, Maddox, and Wyatt with all of their friends. Today we celebrated sweet, stubborned, amazing, snuggly little Wyatt turning 4. Today marks the first official family holiday without Jon present. It could have been bad, real bad. Like lock-yourself-up-and-hide-away-from-the-world-bad. But, it wasn’t.
Today was a good day.
Morning rounds revealed that Jon’s numbers are back where they were before the last 36-hour downward trend, or better. His blood pressure was back in normal range, lactic acids levels were down (basically, they measure the severity of infection), no evidence of bleeding from his PICC or tracheotomy sites, white blood cell count down and continue to trend down. They pulled another 2 liters from his lungs without Jon’s blood pressure dropping. His VA ECMO is down and in the 4.7 range (previously in the 5’s) and they are going to work on weaning it. Jon is also very alert and, not surprisingly, still has his sense of humor. We asked him if he remembered a recent trip to Mexico when Wyatt was just an infant. You guys....Wyatt basically spent the entire time either whining or screaming. In the car, on excursions, middle of the night, ungodly hours of the morning; this kid was screaming. When asked if he recalled this oh-so-precious memory Jon rolled his eyes. Megan and I burst into a laughing fit at his reaction. When asked to do it again on command; roll his eyes, Jon complied. Clearly, his sense humor hasn’t escaped him. Jon’s diseased lungs continue to be a major source of concern for his doctors but they are going to continue watching and evaluating them. His team also stated today that they are going to work on sitting Jon up and at some point in the near future, turning his bed to face the window to add additional visual stimulation. It’s their hope that these changes will help Jon become even more active. Jon’s stomach ultrasound yielded no additional information which seems to fall in line with his upward counts trend today.
I’m going to categorize all of those words up there as a victory. It’s as if Jon knew it was a special day, and Jon never disappoints. Which made it easier for Megan to immerse herself in the day’s celebration. Today, Megan and Jon’s carefully cultivated little village came together to laugh, smile and celebrate Wyatt in a Yoshi-themed birthday party, complete with the birthday boy dressed as his favorite character. For just this afternoon we were collectively able to revel in each other’s company, be thankful for the day’s good news and focus on celebrating life. The community that faithfully surround Megan during these dark hours is a testament to both Jon and Megan. Despite how busy they have been raising a family, working, educating themselves and being a devout husband and wife to each other, they still found time to invest in their community. Now that same community is ready and more than happy to pay it back in full and it has never been more apparent than today.
Yes, today. It was a good day.
#EffSTSS
#WatsonNation