Day 23

Sorry for the recent gap in postings but the last 72 hours have been pretty difficult for Tessa and for us as well.

After moving Tessa out of the ICU on Friday, things seemed to be going okay in terms of respiratory functions and continued improvement with blood chemistry/metabolism etc,. We were so happy to be out of the ICU environment which is so chaotic and intense and no doubt pretty traumatic for Tessa. Unfortunately, Tessa wasn't sharing our happiness about the new digs. She started acting even more detached and delirious and by Saturday morning the "neuro" team recommended that she be moved back into the ICU after undergoing some tests. None of the tests really showed anything conclusive which is good since it helped to rule out any major trauma like strokes, seizures, blood clots, irregular brain activity, etc,...but still nobody seems to have any concrete explanation for Tessa's mental status.

Katie and I think that the combination of narcotics withdrawal and subsequent methodone treatments, the generally traumatic experience of waking up in the ICU with many different people poking her with needles and subjecting her to seemingly tortuous tests, and the ongoing HUS condition which can affect blood vessels in any part of the body including the brain, may have put Tessa in a state of shock that will take some time to come out of. She does have some emotional and physical responses that seem very normal to Katie and I so we're really hopeful that she'll come through and eventually be the same little Tessa that she was before this ordeal began. In the meantime, we'll just be happy to have the Tessa that is.

The somewhat good news is that Tessa will likely be moving out of the ICU and back onto the floor today. UCSF has all these little red wagons like the one pictured above that parents can put their kids in to cruise around the joint before they're able to walk. If all goes well today, Tessa will be out of bed and in a wagon, getting to know the 6th floor a bit better.