Another great day! Speech pathology came in and put a Passey Muir cover on this trach. This allows air in but not out so that he can swallow, cough, eat and talk. After dying some ice chips, applesauce, apple juice and crackers green he was given an ice chip. He made the worst face in the world but he finally managed to swallow it. But, it turned out he just let it melt in his mouth and aspirated it instead of swallowing. The reason it is dyed green so they can suction and see if the mucus is clear or colored. Unfortunately, his was light green, so some of it didn't make it into his stomach. But, he was able to cough more and we told him to try saying something...and he said HI! It was really raspy, but it was the best sound in the world. Dr. Patel is going to give him until the end of the week to see if he can handle the cover before he makes a decision to move the feeding tube from his nose to his abdomen.

He managed to sleep 4 hours last night with a small dose of Ambien and I think he will get it again tonight. He was much more alert throughout the day than he had been. He was also run through the mill today. Physical therapy came 1st and he sat on the side of the bed for about 5 minutes. They really wanted him to stand but I talked them out of that. I know they are the experts, but it was 2 therapists who hadn't seen him before and didn't realize how weak he really is. His blood pressure dropped again, but not as low as the first time. As soon as they were finished and he was just getting settled in his chair, Occupational Therapy came in to work his hands and arms. He was so tired from the other therapy that he was barely able to stay awake to try the exercises. I think she may try to coordinate with them so they aren't coming back to back.

After all of his therapies he went back to bed for a nap and I ran out to do some errands. When I got back I found out that he took his oxygen cuff off (pulled it over his head), took the pulse oximeter off of his forehead, and was trying to take out his feeding tube. Plus, he was trying to convince the tech (aide) to remove his catheter! I caught him another time trying to remove things, and he stuck his tongue out at me! He was also able to wink with both eyes this afternoon and bent his legs and kicked his stabilizer wedge out of the bed! So he was feeling his oats this afternoon!

Dr. Patel thinks that in a couple of weeks he'll be ready to move to the rehab hospital. The one that he is going to also has a stroke recovery center that concentrates on the neuro aspect along with the physical, occupational and speech therapies. It is an inpatient facility and I don't have any idea how long he will be there but I know the therapy is intense, 3-6 hours a day/ 5 days a week. Once this hospital is contacted, a team will come to Mayo to evaluate him so that they can start working on his treatment plan. The good thing is that it is about the same distance from the condo as Mayo, just in the opposite direction.

When I looked at what he had written this morning, it was glaring clear! He wrote his name with a lower case b, a "dot", and 2 capital Ls. The next set of letters was supposed to be Haven, but it was too hard for him at this time. We'll really start working with the magnadoodle this week also.

This has been another epic update, but you have gotten everything I can think of that happened today. As I said, it was another great day!