I haven’t posted any pictures of Kendall in a long time, and for good reason. I do have Kendall’s permission to post this one, though. Because yes, Kendall is now awake and interactive enough to GIVE me permission. I cannot fully express how good it has been to hear his voice again, and that it’s getting stronger every day.
When this picture was taken Kendall had fallen asleep, completely exhausted because earlier he had WALKED a few steps! The nurses and OT (occupational therapist) cheering could actually be heard down the hall of the ICU. Kendall is incredibly weak, and of course needed help today from a walker along with the nurses and OT. But thus far he has needed to use a mechanical lift just to help him get into a chair, so this was HUGE.
The teal machine you can see behind him is the continuous dialysis, or CRRT, machine. Kendall will need to be completely off of that machine before he would be able to leave the ICU to go back down to BMT (bone marrow transplant), as well as have his blood pressure stabilize.
At this point the doctors are saying that our best-case scenario would be Kendall needing to be in the hospital for several more months, possibly followed by an in-patient rehab facility. They still do not know if it is possible for his liver and kidneys to fully heal, or even to heal enough that he would be able to leave the ICU. We know Kendall has a very long road ahead of him, but for now we’ll eagerly take any and all baby steps in the right direction.