New Year, New Joey

Yesterday marks two weeks since Joey's first cardiac arrest. Since then Joey has made good progress. The doctors are very pleased with how he is doing and where he is at. The next few weeks will be working to get him back to full recovery prior to the arrest. We have been telling Joey that it is a new year and time for a new you! The plan for 2015 is to get Joey home and healthy.





Joey has almost shrunk back down to his normal self.  He is still holding onto some fluid, but looks significantly better. He has lost over two liters of fluid in the past two weeks. It is unbelievable how much was in him! His kidneys are coming back to life and he is peeing more and more each day. This has helped to get a lot of extra fluid off.

After being so puffy Joey is very stiff and weak. Also, after the arrest he was give a paralytic, which basically paralyzed him. His condition was so critical at the time that they did not want him moving. This was imperative as the doctors did not want him exerting any energy or increasing his blood pressure.  Due to this, Joey has been doing physical therapy to help build muscle and get moving again.  Joey has been wiggling his hands and feet more and more each day. Eric has played a big part in this as he has been exercising Joey daily.

Joey's lungs were put through a lot of stress as well. After surgery they were weak and got flooded with fluid. It takes some time for them to get strong. Joey's lungs are looking better each day and hopefully we can get him extubated again soon.

We are slowly taking baby steps forward.  Joey has proven that he does not like big changes and we are happy for small wins each day.

Joey is looking forward to getting strong and well in 2015. For now he is trying to decide which nurse he wants to kiss at midnight.

Happy New Year everyone!