This news is too good to wait until morning! But, before we get to that, Bill was awake when I got there this morning and in a good mood. His nurse said that he was told he slept 4-5 hours last night with the help of a little Benadryl. But, the good mood did not last as, the Evil Bill from steroid world showed up and out.

He told Austin, the nurse, to leave him alone when he tried to push the meds through his peg, declined his anti-rejection med that goes under his tongue (that didn't work) and started fighting him when it was time for his blood thinner shot. Austin gave in on that one and then had to leave for rounds. Bill told me he wanted them to respect him and I told him they did, but they had worked very hard to keep him alive and they were only doing their job. I then reminded him that Austin was bigger than he was. He was better after that, until it came time for his bath. 

Before Magnolia started I told Bill he was going to let her give him a bath and not fight her on it. That basically worked as she decided that when he started acting out, she would just stop the bath. But, he had a bowel movement and needed cleaned and he didn't want anyone near that area. He is very tender there, from the antibiotics and the frequent stools (and I know that's more info than most of you want to read). Anyway, Austin came back in to help and while he was holding Bill on his side while Magnolia cleaned he asked me for the shot from the computer stand and he gave it to him without him even knowing it.

Each time Bill started being combative, he would have a panic attack and say that he couldn't breathe, although his numbers were showing that, except for his respirations being high, his oxygen saturation was in the upper 90s.

After his IV med had finished, Austin came back in and said he was going to give him a mild anti-anxiety med, not enough to really drug him, just enough to take the edge off. I agreed that he needed something so he started it. Bill did go to sleep, and slept well, but he could be roused easily.

Physical therapy came in late in the afternoon and asked if she could wake him for therapy. I told her sure, and he agreed to work with her. They did some arm and leg exercises, just to keep the muscles moving and then she asked if he would sit on the edge of the bed for her, for just a minute. Yesterday he declined, today he said he would try. And now is when it gets good

The occupational therapist came in about that time and between the 2 of them, they got him to sit on the edge of the bed. He probably sat there for a couple of minutes, with no support other than his hands on the bed for a bit. They then got a walker and belt and, wait for it....HE STOOD! For the 1st time since Dec. 1, he was up on his feet! It was only about 30 seconds because he said he felt dizzy when they asked, so they sat him back down and then got him back into bed. I didn't take any pictures of him, because I was behind him and didn't want to break his concentration. And I don't think you would want to see his tushie.

We were all very proud of him, especially that he made the effort to try. And the drs. thought he should go straight to hospice! They just don't know Bill and his determination!

He sounded all gurgly most of the day and shortly before I left Austin came in and said his collar was loose and the trach was becoming dislodged like it did the other day. So he pushed it back in and the gurgles stopped. It also stopped Bill from talking so we had to go back to lip reading and facial expressions.

So, that's the great afternoon he had. A real breakthrough and progress in his recovery! Let's see what tomorrow brings!