3:30pm: Reid was extubated about 3:00 today! He is on 13 litre high flow (weaned from 15 at extubation) and seems to be doing well. They started off at 40% O2 and was on 37% when I talked to the nurse at 3:30. In fact, when I was getting off the phone, his alarms were going off as he was high-sat'ing at 99 and were about to go down on the O2 again. Listening to his lungs, they sound pretty good.

His blood gas test was good - CO2 of 54 - which is acceptable, but even on the vent last night and this morning, he had low-60s and upper-50s, so actually, he might be doing a little better on his own right now. They will continue to get gas tests to ensure that he is able to handle the change and make sure they are staying on top of the changes he just had.

He is "fidgety", but doesn't seem to be agitated.

So far, so good. The next hours and days are going to be the true test to see if he can handle it. They will look for changes in his blood gasses and also monitor his work of breathing (retractions that show that he is having a harder time breathing on his own). We have been ready for this day and upset that I have to wait until tomorrow night to see him. I will have Kristen send me pictures later and will post them this evening.

12:00pm: Doctors have made their rounds and they have decided to extubate Reid after lunch. Not sure what time frame that means... but they have ordered it and that is all that matters!!!

On a side note, I was incorrect this morning when I had mentioned that he was off the morphine drip. They have cut the dose, but I guess because it takes awhile to get out of your system, last night was the time frame as to when he probably would have experienced that drop in dosage. Not sure if they will get him off the morphine all the way today... or if that is something that will be done in the next few days.

Reid is getting "range of motion" exercises now, as the physical therapist had requested. He tolerated these just fine today and maintained his sats.

Reid is also experiencing tremors like he did last time he came off the norcuron. Doctors are keeping a watchful eye on this, but are hoping that it will soon subside when the drugs start making their way out of his system. Most commonly, his hand/arm will shake and if you place your hand on top of his, he usually calms down quickly.

8:00am: Reid had a "test" last night as he came off the morphine and is now 100% on the methadone. Supposedly this can be a big event... and he passed with flying colors. His O2 this morning was at 34%. Hopefully this is paving the way to a great day. They weighed him again last night - 8lbs 15oz. He has lost quite a bit of water weight over the past few days and looks really good.