Day 3

Today was a calm day. Not a whole lot of new information to pass on. He is definitely looking somewhat improved. A noticeable change is the amount of swelling in his face has gone down. His eyelids looked much better. Hopefully the eyes beneath are Ok. This morning while we were there, they gave him a shave. I thought it was kind of odd, but the hair follicles on the face are a prime site for infection. He also gets his teeth brushed every 2 to 4 hours. With a ventilator tube in his mouth all day, the liquids have no where to go and just pool around his teeth. That means that Danny gets his teeth brushed 24 to 48 times for every 1 time that Andy brushes his.

Unfortunately he had some of his burned areas upgraded from a 2nd degree burn to a 3rd degree. In his initial assessment on the first day, it was believed that the back of his legs and thighs were only 2nd degree, but as things have settled a little, they are actually 3rd degree.

We expect that he will have the first of his skin grafting surgeries tomorrow afternoon. The surgery will last three hours. Hopefully it goes well. It is becoming more important to get his arms grafted and done with so that the breathing tube can be removed. A breathing tube can only be left in for a certain amount of time before the risk of pneumonia becomes too great and they replace the tube with a tracheotomy. That is a whole new can of worms that we need to avoid.

Thank for all of the pictures and drawings that people have put up on his walls. We are sure that he will be happy to see all of it. Keep the support coming. He will need it more and more in the next few months.