WHAT A DAY....

Well, when I got to the hospital, the first thing the nurse told me was that he didn't do so good. So after hearing that my hopes were down. She told me that he did have a brief period of desaturation when she went to lunch. So I was in the middle of lecturing him on how he needs to behave and work with them in the hospital. That is when the nurse came in and gave me the BEST NEWS YET, they were taking him off the paralytic medicine and moving his vent to the pressure setting instead of the volume setting (or it could be the other way around for all I know), but anyway they were going to let him start waking up and moving. Then they kicked me out so they could change all of his lines. About 1.5 hours later, they let me back in because, of course, right when they were going to let me in he crapped himself so they had to clean that up. So when I went in there they asked me to speak to him, AND HE OPENED HIS EYES!!!!!!! The tears just started welling up, he was loopy, but responding to simple requests and questions. He responded that he knew my name was Chris, and that he was in the hospital. He was not happy at all, he looked a bit mad and very much scared, which I think is to be expected. So I got to talk to him, but he was getting all worked up and kept trying to talk back to me, which is not good. So after about an hour, the nurse and I thought it would be best if they started his Ativan again to sedate him and let him rest and get some sleep. It was tough to leave him, but I am going to put my faith in the nurses that they know what is best. I am going to go back up there when my Dad gets here in an hour or so. It is very tough to see him struggling when he wakes up, not knowing what is going on. They keep telling me that he won't remember, but it is still tough to see. So now we need him to cooperate and relax, which we all know is not his strong suit given the situationl. I told them that if you give him any control, he will want to take all control which is bad. They will slowly start to reduce the sedative and allow him to start taking over the breathing. The better he does, and the more he cooperates, the quicker he will get out of the hospital.

It has been a huge step today, so much so that now I am thinking that I may stay out here a few more days so that I can talk to him. I haven't decided on that yet, but I am thinking about it.

Well that is the news that I have been waiting to type, and I got my wish today. Things could still go backwards, so we need to be cautiously optimistic about all this. What a day. Well remember hug your loved ones and tell them you love them.

Chris

All the kings horses, and all the kings men...

Hello all, just got of the phone with the nurse and PJ had another good night YIPEE! He no episodes of desaturation, and has done wonderfully since he got the trach. Not that the trach has contributed to it. So if we can continue to have these good days and nights, they will start to change the ventilator and start modifying the PEEP (Which I have no idea what that is), but the RT (Respitory Therapist) yesterday told me that is what we are wanting to be the next steps. So he is doing better. They are still bronching him daily, and they continue to get a bunch of stuff out of his lungs. They particularly get most of the stuff out of the upper right lobe. The RT told me yesterday that his lungs were looking better, not good yet but better than they have in the past.

I took off work today to rest and I will get to see him this afternoon. My dad gets here tonight, and Heather gets here tomorrow. PJ will have plenty of love here, which is great. I wish I could be here when he wakes up, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, they have been wonderful. Hug you loved ones and tell them you love them.

Chris