Day Seventeen Part Two

6:12 PM Saturday

Don has slept most of the afternoon. He has also had a fever at times. He has done without his oxygen on several occasions. His oxygen levels have stayed at decent levels with out it until he falls asleep, then they drop. He is still confused at times and he has to be reminded of somethings over and over. PT came in after lunch and told Don that they were going to try to get him in a regular chair to sit for a while. He got so excited. He said to me, "I've got to calm down. I am so excited about getting to sit in the chair." The Physical Therapist was smaller than me and we both tried to get him to the side of the bed, but we just couldn't. We called for more help and with 5 of us we still could not get him in an upright position. He is so swollen from his neck down and even his tummy is so big and tight that he can not sit upright. They have started him on mannitol (a very low dose) to help the release of all the fluid in his body. Please pray that this works and works correctly! Don ate a few bites of a chicken sandwich and about 1/2 a small container of his yogurt (high protein) for lunch. He was very hungry before supper arrived but couldn't eat that much when his tray came. He did manage to eat another piece of the chocolate cake and drank some milk. His stomach and bowels are working but he just isn't able to eat much before he is full. (He had these issues when he was first admitted but he got very nauseated when he tried to eat and his stomach wasn't allowing the food to be emptied into the bowels and then his bowels wasn't moving either). Has been very tired again today just bathing him, repositioning him and eating has absolutely worn him out. One fine point I haven't mentioned is that in ICU they began to check Don's blood sugar. Trauma often causes your blood sugar to rise. Don's sugar is checked every 4 hours and he has had to receive insulin after every check. Most of the time it is only 2 units. They tell me that his sugar levels should return to normal in time. Please just keep praying!! I know you are!! But I just have to say it. We have already seen several miracles since Dec. 4th and we need the Lord to keep touching Don so that he keeps moving forward.