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.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Day Seventeen
11:10 AM Saturday
Don didn't rest much last night. He pulled his oxygen tubes out 4 or 5 times in the early morning hours and even pulled his pulse/ox sensor off. They brought breakfast in about 7:00 but he didn't want anything off his tray. Kristi had brough pizza in last night so Don wanted to have pizza and chocolate cake for breakfast. He ate 1 slice of pizza and a small piece of cake with milk. He is either hot or cold and can't seem to get comfortable. He doesn't seem to be running a fever this morning. He has slept most of the morning at this point. The doctors did say they are not planning on doing surgery on his left hand until he is out of the hospital. The trauma doctors said that they are going to give him some more medicine to try and help with the excessive swelling. Lunch has arrived so I am going to feed Don now and I will try to update again before bed time. Just keep praying!
Day Sixteen
10:43 AM Saturday morning
I don't have a lot to post about Friday as I was away from the hospital most all day. Don slept fairly well on Thursday night and woke pretty early. He had me to make him an egg sandwich from the eggs on his hospital tray and one of the rolls that was left from the dinner provided by the school. He ate all the sandwich. Don's parents arrived about 9:00 so that I could go by our school to say good-bye to one of our teachers that was retiring and to visit everyone before Christmas break. My visit at school was wonderful. When I left the school I went shopping for a few cheap electronic games for Don to try. He is so bored just lying in bed unable to use his hands for much. I looked at a few games the other day and then asked if he thought he could maybe work them so he wouldn't be so bored. He said he thought he could. I picked up a couple of games at Fred's that I hope he will be able to use. Kristi and I came back to the hospital around 8:00 and respiratory was in with Don to give him a breathing treatment. He had PT also and they gave him a few exercises that he can do himself just lying in bed. Don had a few visitors while I was out and they left him a plaque with a scripture on it. Just to show you how God works again, I had been looking for a plaque while I was at Fred's with the exact scripture on it. It is my favorite scripture and I have had to use it quite a few times in the past 15 years - since our house burnt the first time. The plaque has Jeremiah 29:11 on it. Again how wonderful it is that the chapter and verse are the days of my children's birthdays - Donnie's the 29th & Kristi's the 11th. I cried as I read the verse and thought how I had searched for a plaque that very afternoon with that scripture on it. Don's room (11103) was very small. So small that when any of the staff came in no one had room to turn around. My mother-in-law had asked if a bigger room was available could Don be moved. It happened as were standing in the hall waiting on respiratory and lab staff to finish with Don a room across the hall came open. The nurse said she would check to see if we could move into that one. It was approved and Don was transferred to room 11106 about 9:30 last night. After moving into his new room the nurses bathed Don and got him ready for bed. Just keep praying!!
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