Today was a fantastic day! Bill was awake when I got there and they were just getting ready to put the trach collar on. He had even been in CPAP mode all night! They did not turn the vent on vent mode, so he did all the breathing all night! 

He did pretty well, got agitated when he had to be cleaned up and he started breathing too fast and his sats dropped, but we talked him through it. His nurse was Diane again, and she is wonderful. As good as all of them are, certain ones stand out, even more than favorite ones, and she is one of those. 

He also did a lot of coughing and the stuff he was getting up was so sticky and thick it clogged the suction tube, so when he didn't get it completely through the trach tube, I can imagine that it seriously reduced airflow. After one suctioning, Diane asked if they had ever turned his bed on and I said no. Now, remember how they used to treat pneumonia patients back in the day? They would manually beat on the back periodically. I had just been thinking about that this morning on my way to the hospital, wondering why they didn't do that anymore. Well, she pushed a button on the bed and it started vibrating very hard, really thumping. I kept feeling that it would feel really good on tight muscles! After 10-15 minutes it started going really fast for a bit and then stopped. She said that could be done about every 2 hours. He started coughing and bringing more stuff up to be suctioned if he couldn't get it all the way out. Not only was it very thick and sticky, it was pink tinged, but I think that was from the bronch still. It wasn't yellow or green that I could see but white.

About 4 he was really getting tired and the respiratory therapist came in and decided to put him back in CPAP mode. I think they were going to try to keep in there again tonight and not use the vent mode at all.

Dr. Williams was very pleased that the vent was not used and said that he was looking and sounding a lot better. Dr. Omer said his temp had come down, even though his white count had gone up a little more. But, he's on antibiotics so she's not overly concerned.

They have finally gotten a dr. to agree to a podiatry consult to care for his toenails. They are so hard that even after soaking them, I don't have the strength to cut them and some of them are extremely long, while others have curled under and are going to start cutting into the underside of the toe. Diane put the request in, but because of the holiday, she didn't know how soon it would happen.

So, as bad as things seemed to be a couple of days ago, God is still in control and He's giving more hope at Christmas. Not a Christmas miracle as such, but enough of a miracle for me!

I'm staying at the hospital for the next 2 nights so that we are together for Christmas. I'm planning on putting some music on here and maybe try to find a loop of a fire and try to make a cozy little room for us. Since I don't know just how the hospital internet will be, although I have figured out how to make my phone a hotspot and then connect through it, I should be able to post. But just in case I can't, I want to wish everyone a Merry and Blessed Christmas. Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts. I know He hears them and so far they have been answered in the way we want. 

Merry Christmas!