Bill was awake and watching how to make moonshine when I got there this morning. They said he had a decent night. The only glitch I heard about was when they tried to turn his oxygen from 50 to 40 percent, his sats dropped into the upper 80s. 88 is his baseline number, and a couple of the doctors are comfortable with 87. So, they turned it back up to 50%.

He got a little feisty today. He wants the vent OUT! He also kept reaching for his catheter. I don't think he's comprehended that he has it, because when I asked him if he had to pee he nodded. He can feel where the catheter is taped to his thigh and I think that bothers him some. Depending on how he is laying, he can reach both the vent and catheter, even with the soft arm restraints. It wouldn't surprise me to find
 his hands tied tomorrow.

He was also trying so hard to talk and none of us were having any success reading his lips, especially without his dentures. He finally acted like he was biting and I asked if he was hungry and he nodded. I told him and showed him the bottle of feed they had running, but he said he was still hungry. So, the amount they are giving him may not be enough.

There are still no results on the cultures they took so Dr. Threlkeld is just giving him the Zerbaxa until he knows for sure what grows. He's also still getting some sedation, but they have it very light. He was awake most of the day. He's still getting the Levafed for his blood pressure. They've tried to wean him from it because they don't like using it for long. If they give less than a flow of 1.9, his pressure drops below 100, but any higher and it gets too high.

Bill did not want me to go get any lunch today, but he was really agitated then trying to talk to us. I promised him that I would get it and come back and eat it in his room and I did. I had to stop at the doorway to put on a new gown, and he was waving me in! So he was watching for me to come back!

I ended up having to leave earlier than I wanted. I've had severe cramping and abdominal pain and diahrrea and just chalked it up to IBS, stress and eating all the goodies mom sent for Christmas. But, for all of those, Immodium and Pepto Bismol usually work really fast and this time they weren't. I felt bloated and just really miserable. So, I started wondering if I was trying to get the little stomach bug that's been going around here at home, but I haven't been around anyone. I finally looked at the side effects on my new arthritis medicine and lo, and behold, the most reported side effects are abdominal pain, diahrrea, cramping and nausea. And, I've only been taking it 3 days, the exact number of days of the symptoms. It works really good, but it's not worth it. I had to get this instead of the one I had been getting because Tri-care decided it wouldn't pay for the other until this one was tried. So, now I need to see what to do to get the other one. I still have some of it and I'll just start taking it again.

This is a Christmas where more family members are spending it in the hospital instead of just me and Bill. I got a call from my son that his wife was being transferred from a local hospital to the University of Arkansas Medical Hospital in Little Rock. She has been seen by those doctors and they recently did a lumbar puncture. She's been to the emergency room 3 times this week with a headache that they think is a side effect of the puncture. So, they are on their way, Amanda in an ambulance and Ryan in their truck. He's not following the ambulance and actually left before it. I just told him to be careful and to text me when he got there. So, keep them in your prayers too. 

There you have it, our Christmas Eve update. Merry Christmas from room 2936 at Baptist Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee!