Today was a very busy day for Bill. He saw physical therapy, occupational therapy, the surgeon's PA, the VAD nurse and I don't know who else. By the end of the day when I left he was standing better and moving a little more. He also had his O2 dropped down a little and the Nitric Oxide removed. His O2 sat dropped some after that but the technician worked with him and we finally got it to stabilize in the 90's. He just has to remember to breathe through his nose instead of his mouth.

The ultrasound was finally done on his arm and he does have a blood clot somewhere in the left arm. The dr. started him back on aspirin and coumadin today and we will find out tomorrow morning what the protocol will be. His left hand is extremely swollen and discolored and the swelling comes and goes from his arm. The arm is still very sore from the bicep to the shoulder. He's trying to keep the arm elevated and wrapped in warm cloths to help. One of the things that could be complicating this is he wants the room extremely cold. Everyone who comes in, or has to stay in the room, is freezing. He's not even using a sheet to cover himself, yet to touch him it's like touching an ice cube. He did finally say that it felt cool in the room after he ate supper! We all jumped for joy and turned the thermostat up. The cold room and hand was also making it hard for his O2 monitor on his finger to work properly.

He hasn't slept much and it seems that when he does fall asleep someone comes in. He's going to get a mild sleeping pill tonight. I think he may just get his usual dose of xanax, but I don't know for sure.

He's also still not eating a lot but we have finally found a few things that he can get down. He still doesn't have his teeth in so finding soft foods that will fill him up is getting tough. They have him on a calorie count to make sure he's getting enough nourishment and today he really started trying to eat. Yesterday he just kept telling us that he was full.

We thought we were going to have some excitement this evening, also. I guess that during the storm Friday night, part of the power grid at the hospital was damaged by lightning. I knew that they had lost power, but not that the system had been damaged. Anyway, they were going to replace the damaged parts tonight at 7 and the power could be off for 20 minutes. Of course all of the equipment (IVs and oxygen) all have battery back-up. All of it....except Bill!! So, about 6 he was "untethered" from his power unit and put on his battery packs. Not a problem, sat in his chair and ate dinner and watched tv. We did not lose power and after he was put back to bed, before I left, I put him back on the power unit and put the batteries back in the charger. The nurse told me that I did an excellent job and didn't get flustered. You have to mate the ends of the connectors and to me it was just like plugging in a computer system! I have some paperwork to fill out for the VAD nurse with contact information. I haven't really looked at it yet, too tired.

All for tonight. I need to get to the hospital early again tomorrow to catch the doctor.