Update - He's Awake for Mothers Day

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to all of your constant vigilance, prayers and thoughts (and the amazing medical expertise of the Childrens' Hospital), Kristian and his Mother Eva (and Grandmother Cyndie) had a wonderful day.

Kristian started his day with a typical adventure into "low oxygen land" but thanks to a new and revised approach by the medical team (and dad "don't bag him" Scott) he was in L02L for a very brief time (and his o2 never went below 84 - in the past he would go as low as 70) the young man spent the majority of Sunday better than anyone thought possible. While he is still on a ventilator, Kristian was not only awake but alert, unrestrained and spent the day trying to talk to all of us. Since he still has plenty of tubes in his throat, Kristian now has a pen and pad on his bed and has started to write us notes (actually more like demands such as "i want more dinosaurs now" or "go get me two more polar bears" - good to see that his illness has not stopped Kristian from understanding that the world revovles around him).

Also today, for the first time, the docs ran a test to see if Kristian could handle breathing without the ventilator assistance (read, take the tubes out) but alas, he is not quite ready. They are going to run another test in about an hour (4am Monday) and will continue to do so throughout the day in order to get Kristian back to his normal self asap.

They still do not know what the exact cause of his infection was/is but they have stopped his vancomyicin treatments (for MRSA), changed his inhalants and steriods to a less irritating type, and he is down to an almost paltry number of IVs. The only big thing left after the ventilator will be to wean him off the Fentanyl (big time narcotic sedative) that he has been on for the past week.

Because Eva is going to be live on KDKA Monday Morning at 9am with Jennifer Antkowiak, Grandmom Cyndie is really being helpful by spending the night with Kristian at Childrens' and plan on watching "mommy" on tv with Kristian.

Stay tuned (literally) for more and our profound thanks again to each and every one of you for your continued thoughts and prayers.

BTW - your prayers also have helped the little baby in Room 508 because that little child's room no longer has all of the really big and scary machines (such as the full blood transfusion machine) that were in there yesterday.

I love your updates Scott. So thankful Kristian is doing better and Eva and her mom had a good Mother's Day. Also thankful for the news about baby 508! God is good even though he walks us through these hard times, we just have to remember that he IS there all the way. Will continue to pray!

we've been anticipating your updates and are grateful that kristian is improving. we'll continue to pray for him, you, eva, etc., as well as the other children you mentioned. his peace to you.