Friday, December 12, 2008

Day Nine Part Two

6:30
When I went back to Don's cubical for the 3:00 visit the physical therapist had just arrived. I was able to help the ICU nurse and the PT to sit Don up. It was very hard for him to get in the upright position after being on his back for over a week, but he did it. He was able to shift his weight from hip to hip but was unable to stay balanced enough to sit on his own. With both arms in casts, he is unable to support himself because the left hand still has to be operated on and the right one cannot have any pressure for quite sometime. He only sat up about 5 minutes and then we helped him to lie back down. Don showed signs of being in more pain trying to lie back down than he did when he was sitting up. He went right to sleep and slept for the most of the remainder of the visitation time. He is somewhat confused still every time he wakes up but nothing like yesterday. We are waiting on a room in PCU - Progressive Care Unit, which is a step better than ICU. The blockage in his stomach is still there but it is getting smaller. The are allowing him to have ice chips instead of sponges soaked in water. He is so hungry and thirsty though. He hasn't eaten anything to amount to anything in over a week now and he hasn't been able to have anything to drink since Tuesday. He has a lot of swelling in his feet, ankles & the left hand. He has some water type blisters on his left thigh. That could be an allergic reaction to some tape. The nurse also said it could that instead of swelling in other areas, his body has forced fluid to the top of his skin and formed those blisters. But it only appears to be on the left leg. Just keep praying! He has a rough, tough & long road ahead!

Day Nine

11:52
I just finished my visit at 11:00. WOW!! What an improvement!! Praise the Lord!! He turned towards me as I walked in and said "Hey babe, how are you?". His fever is down to 100.8 and he is down to 3 liters of oxygen by mouth. He is not breathing through his nose. Heart is great! Blood pressure is great! And breathing is good! They may move him later today to CCCU (I think that's right). Any way it is a step down from ICU. If they do move him, I may get to stay with him tonight. The procedure for the filters took place about 7:00 last night and they brought him back to his cubical about 9:00. We spent the next two hours getting updates and trying to get him situated. They tried to get another stomach tube down, but it was unsuccessful as of 11:00 after several attempts. They did get it in sometime during the night, but he pulled it out sometime after 5:30 this morning. As of now they are not planning to put it back in. I haven't been updated as to weather the blockage in his stomach has cleared or not. I hope to find out at 3:00 when I get to go back in there. ICU visiting hours are 9-11AM 3-5PM and 9-11PM. If they move him those hours may change.
Sorry I didn't update the blog much yesterday or make many phone calls. I was very stressed after that 3:00 visit. I pretty much fell apart. Thank you all for your prayers thus far! We love you all and I will continue to keep you updated.