This little piggy went to the market....

I will have to say that PJ and Big Guy are probably the two most humorous people I know. Get em together, and they are a comedy act...

So, I went there this morning and PJ had been off the vent since 8 am. They had already sat him up and dangled his feet over the side of the bed. He did a great job. He was pretty tired after that, so I was there for about an hour and a half, and then let him sleep.

Steve, Lynette and I went back up this afternoon and was he awake!!!! First, he was trying to write.. didn't work so well. He is great at scribbling. Big Guy is going to hang it on the fridge he said.. So, Steve and Lynette were moving his fingers.. and PJ is getting so much stronger! When Big Guy was moving his fingers, he started playing piggy with PJ. "This little piggy went to the market, this little piggy went home..." Then PJ raised his other hand and started saying, this little piggy went we we we... It was FUNNY! (He doesn't say words yet, he just mouths the words which can sometimes be very difficult to understand. This afternoon though, he was slowing down, and we could read his lips much better). PJ then told Steve he was stupid...

Peej is also trying to sit up on his own. His strength is really coming back. He is moving his legs a lot more, moving his arms, stretching, grabbing your hand and squeezing. (He was being a butt head today and wouldn't let go of my hand). He is smiling, and laughing, and talking... He has so much to say. He asked about Chief Johns, and Templeton (who were the others in the accident), he told Ryan (one of PJ's friends who also works with him. Ryan stayed behind when the ship went out to help the families while we are out here.) to bring Josh, Romel and Robert (his friends) up to see him. I asked if he wanted to have a party in his room, and he said yes.

He is also giving hugs. He will grab your hand and bring you close to him.
This was my favorite part of the day. He knows who you are, and looks right at you when you talk to him.

So, he has been off the vent all day and his stats are great. 100% O2 saturation, great blood pressure, normal heart rate, no fever... He is coming along great. They won't put him back on the vent until tonight to let him rest. Hopefully soon he will be off the vent forever.. baby steps.

Today is a great day out here. He is fun to be around. He gets tired, but he is so much more "with" it. Don't get me wrong, at one point he said, I feel stoned and he is! They have not lowered his ativan yet. Can you imagine how active he is going to be when they do?

Well, that's all for now. Leave your comments. I will tell him what you say. He seems to want to hear from everyone.

Hugs from San Diego!
Heather

If needed... oxygen will drop from the overhead compartment

OK, so I just talked to the nurse. Kelly is his nurse today, but she was busy, so I talked to the "floor" nurse. PJ slept well last night, no complications, and no vomiting. He is already on the trach collor (which means that the vent is off again), and they are not planning on putting him back on the vent until they see that he is tired. They are also putting him back into the chair today with the vent off.. So todays plan: wear his butt out.

Everything else is the same, they are talking about lowering the Ativan again today since they didn't yesterday. (Ativan is the sedititve). So, hopefully he will be even more awake...

I am getting ready to get up there and I will post more this afternoon... today looks like a good day in PJ land...

Heather