We’ve officially surpassed 50 days in the ICU. It’s incredible how resilient and adaptable Gia is in all of this— she’s become quite comfortable with her nurses and the medical equipment, helping them put on or take off her sensor stickers, strapping on her blood pressure cuff, and learning everything the nurses do day-to-day.

A big win of the week is that using BiPAP at night is working great to keep her CO2 levels down when she sleeps. She’s still not a fan of putting it on though, so the nurses will wait until she’s in a deep sleep, sometimes taking 2 attempts to get on successfully. The other challenge we’ve been encountering is the mask coming loose when she moves to her belly or pulling it off in the middle of the night and it’s difficult to get back on without a fight.

Gia continues to progress! She’s officially on low flow oxygen and doing well. Nighttime is where most of the concern is for her because the drive to breathe naturally decreases when you sleep and with her hypoventilation, it can put her in a dangerous place.

Throughout this process Kevin and I have tried to focus on the micro wins of each day. To be honest, some days it’s felt difficult to find something to celebrate, but we’ve finally strung together a few days of positive news.

First and foremost, we are incredibly grateful for the support that has come Gia’s way. Whether you’ve given words of encouragement, a quick check in, prayer, or a donation, we’ve felt the incredible outpour of love for her— from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.