Sometimes I hate Blogger! I had a post going and it just suddenly went away. It's done that before, just turns everything blue and poof...gone. So, I'll try to remember what I had written. Usually if it's just off the top of my head, once it's typed, it's gone!

I went to the urgent care clinic and I really should have gone sooner! The Dr. thinks that it is a pulled muscle, but she also thinks that it pinched a nerve in the process. She told me to quit taking what I had been taking and she gave me a shot in the behind and a script for a muscle relaxer. She said if I think it's going to be too strong that I'm afraid I won't hear the phone to cut it in half. I'm to take it bedtime. The shot has worked. There is just a dull ache that is quite bearable. She also said that if my elbow is still hurting after the shoulder is better to consult an ortho dr. for an mri of my neck. That also wouldn't surprise me and one of the places on the list is where I had my ankle looked at last summer.

I'm already back at the hotel. They are gearing up for the winter weather that is supposed to be coming here now. That was the whole reason I decided to stay down here, it was only supposed to be rain. But they are taking precautions with patient care, making sure there are enough warmed blankets for patients who are needing bathing and calling in nurses and finding ones willing to stay over. So, Austin said that since there was nothing planned for Bill for today and the drs. had been in, he would call if anything changed and I could call the unit at any time to check on him. I got some supplies when I was at Walgreens so I don't have to leave the hotel to get something to eat tonight, and yes, I ate a good lunch...spaghetti that was almost as spicy as Steak 'n Shake Chili Mac.

But, enough about me, you want to read about Bill. So, since this could get pretty lengthy,  I could just give you a condensed version, grab a cup of coffee or snack and settle in.

All of his numbers were good yesterday were good, although his hands were still swollen (they were much better today, his bracelets were actually able to slide again). His bowels have also started to move, and here's a little TMI, he got 4 baths yesterday from in the night until I left, if you know what I mean. But, they had been wanting a stool sample from the day he was brought in, so they now have that.

At 9:26 they started the breathing test and he did really well. All of his numbers stayed up. I just held his hand and kept talking to him. Dr. Fox decided at 11 to go ahead and extubate! But, he couldn't get the secretions cleared. They had him on a rebreather on extremely high flow oxygen (set at 15 liters) and he was still laboring. They tried turning it down some and he did not seem to be as distressed, but Dr. Fox decided about 4 that he really needed to be re-intubated. So, he's back on the vent. He also mentioned that they may need to do a tracheotomy to save his throat muscles, plus it's easier to suction through the trach. He had one after the transplant, so I'm not to worried about having to have it done again. And Dr. Hosenpud didn't think he would ever get the trach out and he did. He has surprised so many people throughout this entire process, who knows what he will do next.

They have also started some contact isolation precautions. This means that everyone in the room must be gowned and if he is going to be touched for some reason, gloved. There is also a generic stethoscope in the room for everyone to use. I am the only one who doesn't have to have gloves since I don't mess with any of his IV sites, just hold a hand or smooth a brow. The reason they have done this is because one of the cultures that grew was e.coli. Of course that's found everywhere so it's hard telling where he picked it up. And, for those gowns to be made of paper, they are hot! 

When I left today, (and I am kinda combining the 2 days) his numbers were pretty good. His blood pressure was holding steady again, after dropping after all the trauma from the vent, but his heart rate was going below his threshold. It's set at 80 and it's only dropping into the 70s, which is normally not a problem. The medicine to keep the heart rate up is at a pretty low rate because they do want to wean him off it, but for now, things are holding steady. His kidney numbers are good and they are just going to monitor now and not adjust anything else. They have stopped the D5W fluid (remember on the TV show Emergency how they were always told to hang a bag of D5W?). He is getting all of his normal meds, some maintenance insulin mainly due now to the tube feeding and he was going to get some phosphorous and albumin when I left. The albumin is just to build blood volume some and everything they are giving him can really mess up electrolytes.

Dr. Fox said he is sounding a little junky today, but his xray looks about the same. He hasn't ruled out another broncoscopy and may do it tomorrow if he thinks it's necessary. He wants to wait until Monday or Tuesday before making a decision on if to try to extubate or just go ahead and do the trach. He did say that even though Bill had such a hard time yesterday, his lungs got some good exercise, which is a plus. He also doesn't think that the vent will be permanent.

I did talk to the Palliative Care Team and told them that we don't want to have a meeting right now until we see just how Bill is when he is out of ICU. Dr. Mullinax did come by with a Pastor Joseph and said he understand. It was right after they started the breathing trial he he could see that Bill was focused on me and what I was saying to him and he commented that they haven't found a medicine to take the place of a spouse's love. So, he said that he would continue to follow him and if I needed him for anything to call, he's always available. We then had prayer, and I had to explain that I cry at the drop of a hat, so not to be concerned about that and I was then reassured that God's sees all of those tears and takes them away.

I looked back over my notes from when he didn't want to go to the hospital the time before this emergency and found where I had asked Bill if he was just tired of it all and wanted to stop everything. He told me no that he did not. That tells me that he's not ready to give up, or he wasn't on Nov. 17! He also indicated at skilled nursing and at a prior ER visit, that he wanted to be a full code if something should happen.

I did tell him yesterday that it was OK with me if he did want to stop fighting. I also told him that while I didn't want to lose him, I would do it for him. He didn't give a response either way, but he was working really hard to breathe.

The Social Worker came in and asked if I had had a chance to look over the list of centers she had given me and I told her I had, but that we wouldn't be making any decisions on those until they could be visited. She wanted to know when that would be and I told her I had no idea. Hello! I'm kind of preoccupied here in the ICU! I know she's just doing her job, but where there really is no-one else who could make that decision, until he is stable, I'm not leaving. If the urgent care clinic was farther away that it was, along with the pharmacy, I probably still wouldn't have gone, and the hotel is on the hospital campus, but finding the right center in our area...it can wait. And Bill may not even want to try that again! As Emily said, the dining room may turn into a sick room (although he would hate that).

We did have one very special thing yesterday...we got a new great-granddaughter! I'm not sure what number she is, and I think the numbers in the bio are outdated. But Ariya Faye Haven was born at 3:35 pm, weighing in at 8 lbs. 10 oz. and 20 inches long. Great grandpa missed seeing her picture by about an hour by the time I got it. But, something to look forward to showing him in a couple of days!

I think this tome is about finished. I'm hearing louder sounds from outside occasionally so must be more sleet mixed in with the rain. I'm going to hunker down with my book (wish it was my knitting, but maybe in a few days).