When I walked into the unit yesterday morning, Bill's door was closed, so I peeked in the window to make sure there wasn't something going on. Bill was awake and watching TV. I looked at his breakfast tray and it was empty. The only thing I could tell from it was that he didn't get Cheerios, but he ate everything that he was given! A very good sign!

I looked at his monitor and it was split with another patient, but his side had his name on it and the difference between yesterday and the previous days was remarkable. His heart rate showed a steady 87, with no PVCs, which are extra beats, his O2 was 96%, his blood pressure was 98/57, which, while low, was more in the normal range for him, and respirations 25. Pretty normal looking numbers!

They had stopped the Levafed again to see if the pressure would stabilize. They did have to restart it during the day but he's only getting .5ccs at whatever rate they have the machine set. His nurse told me that it's as low as it can be set. He's still getting iron and antibiotics, but they had not given him anymore blood, and before I left his hematocrit was 27, so coming up nicely.

He looked better and said he felt better and his mind was much clearer and his speech was more coherent than before. He also didn't have 5 blankets on him, only the one Emily brought him to use.

The endo dr came in and said they think they have a handle on his sugar, and later in the day he made changes to his insulin. They were giving broad coverage without checking it as much, but he changed it to checking it before meals and giving him an standing 5 units, with extra coverage as needed depending on the reading. But, it is more manageable. He wasn't able to tell me if it is still steroid induced or if it had developed into "regular" diabetes. His father was diabetic later in life so it wouldn't surprise me if it had, but the dr. said there was no way that we could tell until he was completely off steroids.

I didn't see the kidney dr. but Toya, Bill's nurse, said that his numbers had improved. His levels usually stay between 1.6 and 1.8 and they had been over 2. They were now back down to 1.79. He still wasn't peeing much until right before I left and they there was good output. So, getting better there.

Dr. Williams came in and said he sounded better and he thought we were on the right track and it was just a waiting game now to see what grew, and Janet from Infectious Disease agreed. She noticed that he wasn't getting as short of breath talking as he had before.

I saw Dr. Edwards and he poked his head in, but Bill had just gotten off the bedpan so he said he would come back, and by the time I left 1 1/2 hours later he still hadn't come back. I want to ask him if a report of the transplant would be helpful to him. I can print all of those documents from his Mayo account, and I think I will do that this morning before I go, whether he wants them or not.

Bill's lunch was fried chicken and mac and cheese and greens and he ate all the chicken and mac and cheese before he ate his ice cream. They are also bringing him extra tea. Seems like he would rather drink it than water.

His dinner was beef stew with a side of cauliflower and cornbread and I told him he had to eat all of his stew before his dessert. But, then I left to head home and he may have reached for the dessert as soon as I was out the door! 

 Emily did not go with me yesterday, as she had church obligations, and she will need to go back to work today, although she's told them that if I need her, she will head down. 

I finally ate a full meal yesterday at lunch. Bill's chicken looked so good and I was hoping they would have it in the cafeteria, but it was baked down there. But I got a slice of ham with pineapple and some mac and cheese and mixed veggies and ate all of it. That was the first time I was really hungry, except for Thursday night and I hadn't eaten anything all day. But by the time we could eat that night, I was too tired to eat and it didn't taste good at all.

I have to make a stop at Walmart before I leave town this morning and what I need to do, the area doesn't open until 8. Ryan is coming to clean the gutters today and I don't have enough cash to leave for him, so I'm going to send him some first. 

So, big improvement yesterday, hopefully more improvement today. I don't think they will move him from ICU until his pressure stays more stable. Oh yeah, they also still have him on high-flow oxygen and they have to wean him down from that. They have cut back some on the breathing treatments and they aren't giving them through the night so he can get some rest for more than 4 hours hopefully. They are drawing blood every 6 hours to check the hematocrit to make sure it stays up.

That's all I've got for today...much better than before. I feel more confident in his recovery now than I had, although I know things can and will still go wrong. But, like Dr. Williams said, I think he's on the right track.