5...4...3...2...

On day two, when the air tube was attached under Mathias' nose, it provided 5 liters (5 quarts) of air per minute (?). The air was enhanced with varying amounts of oxygen depending on what was needed. It has ranged from room air (21% oxygen) to 40-50%.

The goal is to remove the tube altogether, have him breathe room air on his own, and not have any breathing spells. That would make him just like you and me! The road to get there is a bit bumpy. When he was stable on close to room air with no spells, they started gradually dropping the air volume being fed to him.

Yesterday, it dropped to 3. Today it is down to 2. The oxygen saturation i the blood is carefully monitored and if needed the oxygen level is dialed up a bit to make sure levels stay where they should. It currently hovers between 30 and 40%. As I mentioned yesterday, there have been a few mild breathing spells along the way as well. When this stabilizes we'll keep going for 1 and later zero. Zero will be nice but it may take a while.