Bill is back to trach collar! He was very tired all day today, but they said he had a decent night but woke several times. Before the switch from vent to trach, they put him on CPAP for a couple of hours and during that time he worked with therapy some. He didn't stand as well, or sit as long on the side of the bed and he was sluggish moving. He also didn't want to sit in the chair. We think he was just worn out from all the work he did yesterday.

Shortly after therapy left, he was put on trach collar. He did a lot of coughing to start, which is normal, and they did a couple of deep suctions and got a lot of secretions out, but none of it was terribly thick. Some of what he coughed out was thicker, but he was still getting it to move.

He spent most of the day asleep and I decided to leave a little early. The brisket from last night did not sit well on my stomach and it was a little upset most of the day. I also knew that I would have to get gas and needed some groceries. He was just waking up when I decided to leave and he was OK with it. I again closed his blinds. I asked if he wanted something different on TV since I had been watching old movies, but an old western was coming on and he said it was fine.

They were going to put him back on the vent for the night, but I don't know what time they were planning on doing that. I was just impressed that his numbers stayed up as well as they did. His sats stayed in the 90s most of the time and his oxygen concentration was set at 50% at 11 liters. That's a high liter amount but hopefully they will get it back down to where he was before. That was part of the problem with weaning in ICU. They couldn't get the concentration below 70% and he was at 15 liters. That's a lot of oxygen. They would like for him to be at 40%, but they had bumped him up a little at one point for something.

So, a pretty eventful, uneventful day with him sleeping most of the day. AND, I actually had a little conversation with Dr. Fox! We talked about the movie I was watching "A Face in the Crowd". It has an excellent cast, Patricia Neal, Andy Griffith, Walter Mathau and a few other big names I can't recall right now. It wasn't a long conversation, but it's the most I've talked to him!

A little short story...there's a southern gospel song that says that we always pray for the big things, but we also need to pray for the little things. We all know how prayer has worked with Bill's illnesses and how many times he has brought him through, so that's the big thing. Every day when I driving through the hospital campus to leave, I thank God for whatever day we've had, thank Him for the good things, acknowledge the days that aren't as good as His plan and then I ask for a safe trip home, including getting safely on the highway. And so far, I have not had any problems! I have to immediately cross 2 lanes of traffic, and 3 lanes if possible to be where I want to be. And it seems like no matter what time of day I leave, I'm able to get to my chosen lane without a problem and most days there are large openings. Well, this morning I used my drive to acknowledge that I haven't talked to Him as much in the mornings, so spent quite a bit of my drive in prayer. And lo and behold, the traffic at my exit which is usually terrible, was almost nonexistent and all the merging that has to be done, with other traffic coming from a different direction wanting to merge where I am, was a piece of cake! I know, I know, I needed that little smack on the cheek telling me to wake up. So, just a little testimony for the evening. 

All for tonight. It's almost my bedtime. Could have some snow flurries for the drive in the morning which will be fun! Goodnight!