Bill was in a very good mood this morning and said that he slept most of the night. He still did a lot of coughing and was coughing out thicker secretions, but he was getting them out himself.

The staff said that right after I left yesterday he became a little agitated, but then settled down, probably because he got his meds. I was asked by a friend this morning if he was on an anti-depressant and the answer is yes. He's also on an anti-anxiety med. I think a lot of his agitation still stems from not being able to really communicate.

He was off the subject of going home, as I thought he would be after he slept. He did keep saying he needed to get better and I kept reminding him that he is getting better. Dr. Munday said that he sounded a little junky today, but that's nothing new and he said as long as he can cough it up he's not too concerned. He also said that after a couple more days on the trach collar the trach tube can probably be reduced and then he won't be put back on to the vent at all. The tube can be reduced in increments until it can be taken out completely and the hole will close on its own. Hopefully speech therapy can start working with him again this week, at least on speaking and using the speaking valve. He wants to talk so badly and it's really hard to talk around the trach. It's supposed to be impossible but he's found a way to do it.

When I went to lunch today he actually called for the nurse and asked for a bedpan, which is also a breakthrough! The PCA came in and told me after I came back. I also found out that I can get at least 1 meal a day through pastoral care, and should have been getting it from the time he was admitted. The nurse was rather disturbed that I hadn't been told that before. So, they are supposed to come in tomorrow and talk about it. We're lucky that we have the means for me to go back and forth and I usually only eat 1 meal at the hospital. I also am not spending what I would spend on groceries if he were home, so it really evens out some.

That's about it for today. Hopefully therapy will really start to work with him more this week since he's gotten so much stronger both mentally and physically. Even the nurses on this floor have noticed a difference in him from day 1 to day 10.

I'll be back tomorrow!