1/1 2:40 pm

During rounds, it was brought up that Ethan lost a liter of fluid since the start of dialysis. His arm measurement today is down to 12 inches. Yeah! He has been paralyzed because he is moving too much. The nurse gave a bolus of paralytic waited about 10 minutes and then was surprised he was still moving.

“This is my son, Ethan, he goes by The Hulk. My husband and I make super natural kids that possess special powers.” 

“Wow! Impressive” she said

“Yeah, we are being studied on our highly advanced DNA make up because of it.” Then I looked at my genetic disaster of a kid laying in the hospital bed. I am sure she won’t put two and two together. Don’t worry, I am pretty sure she didn’t believe a word of what I was saying.

The renal doctor was impressed with Ethan’s progress despite the challenges the machine presented us. She was even more impressed that he was still making urine as well. I told her that he is an overachiever. He likes to show off.

Sometimes dialysis clears out erythropoietin which is a hormone produced by the kidneys that is responsible for generating new blood cells. They are starting him on synthetic erythropoietin.  He also gets to start IV nutrition again. I wonder what his yellow dinner in a bag will be tonight?  If Ethan had to choose, probably chicken wings.

There is far less secretions and blood being auctioned from his lungs. This is likely due to the vent settings, medications and the offloading of fluid. 

It is exciting to see the progress but I feel cautiously optimistic. 

Ethan has had a restful day. No crumpled up agony faces. He got a mani/pedi complete with exfoliation, nail trim and moisturizer.  I didn’t paint his nails but thought about it. Applied some vitamin E to his scars.

Ethan has been listening to a wide range of music today. His nurses like his play list. It might just be my playlist. I am subconsciously broadening his horizons musically. Another excellent parenting tip. When your child is unconscious, play your music for them so it becomes familiar. Then they will crave it while riding in the car. Brilliant. Netflix ruined a lot of lives taking The Office off. Poor Ethan. 

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