Here's the rest of what went on today before I came home. They tried using the trach collar, which is just a special mask that connects to a hose. It goes around his neck and covers the trach and that's how he breathes. He did not do really well. Again, the oxygen had to be turned up to 15 and, while his sats were OK in the mid 90s, they started to drop and he kept mouthing help me. So, after about 15 minutes he was put back on the vent.

The gastro dr. came in and said that Bill is maintaining what he needs with the ng tube and, in his opinion, the peg didn't have to be done while he was still in ICU, and he's, according to what this dr. apparently read, is going to be there for awhile. I'm sure that's it's until he can get off the vent.

He slept for awhile and when he woke up he was still alert. He needed to be cleaned up again and while that was happening I went to get some lunch. I ate 2 bites and unfortunately for me, my throat did it's thing where it wouldn't let me swallow the food. When I got back upstairs I was spending more time in the bathroom coughing everything up than in with Bill, and since he is still in isolation, it was gown on, gown off and in the trash, gown on, gown off and in the trash. I checked with his nurse and she said they weren't planning on doing anything major this afternoon. She thought they were just going to leave him on the vent instead of doing another trial, so I told her I was coming home. I still can't eat or drink anything, although I just had the hiccups which usually helps. 

I asked Bill if I could leave and told him why and he said it was OK. I also told him no wild parties or dancing girls, and since Caleb was his aide today they had better not get into trouble. And, I hadn't even left the unit and his vent started alarming. He was just trying to cough which causes it to alarm.

That's how the day has gone. I feel exhausted and really wished at one time that I had Bill's little suction device to suction this stuff out. I'm hungry and thirsty (not even liquids are going down), and I had really hoped that the procedure I had done in October would last longer than 2 months. The strange thing about this condition is that once the spasms stop, the same food that caused it to begin with may not have any affect the next time.

Mom, we got the package today. Do I HAVE to share? Thank you for the goodies and the gift card.

I'll update again tomorrow. I don't know if I will take the computer or not, I'll decide in the morning.