I asked Rachael, the same nurse as Saturday, if any drs. came in after I left Saturday and she said none did. Dr. Edwards was the last one as far as she knew and I talked to him. So, maybe that's what Bill was remembering and wanted to tell me. Since Dr. Edwards had been ordering fluids, it's entirely possible that Bill was more confused than normal. When he gets dry, he gets a little fuzzy, and he can realize it most of the time.

The stool cultures all came back negative for blood, so when Dr. French came in from the GI group, he said they were just going to monitor him. There are no outward/obvious signs of bleeding from anywhere and he is taking iv protonics to protect his stomach. They also don't want to do an endoscopy with him still being on the high flow oxygen.

I noticed that his oxygen had been turned back up in the night again, and I have some thoughts on that. We'll get to that later, though.

He ate a good breakfast and at 1 point in the day I looked at his bed and it had weighed him. I had been wondering how much weight he had lost in the 3 weeks he's been there and now I have my answer. When he was admitted I think they recorded his weight as 145. The bed said that he weighed 143.7 and that he had lost 1.2 pounds over the last 24 hours. So, even though he wasn't eating much and they delayed getting the tube feeding started or adding the supplements, he's maintained his weight somehow. He's not retaining fluid that's obvious to see, such as swollen ankles, and if he was dry, his body is not sucking fluid from somewhere else. 

He was able to get up to use his bedside commode yesterday and instead of a major traumatic bowel movement, he was back to his usual sit down, go, be done routine. The nurses couldn't believe how fast he was, or how well he did getting up and pivoting to get to the commode. They didn't even have time to get his chair ready for him. Yes, I said chair. There were apparently some discharges Saturday and a chair was available. I meant to put a note on it like I did last year about not removing it from the room, but didn't so who knows if it will be there when I get there.

He sat in his chair for 3 1/2 hours before complaining that he was getting stiff and sore. So, that's a good amount of time. 

It was decided that they would not start Heparin to avoid blood clots but to restart the Eliquis that had been stopped before the bronch. So, that was some good news.

He's doing much better with his breathing treatments, keeping the mouthpiece in and his mouth closed. But, his hearing is still mostly gone. Dr. Shriner looked in his ear and he does have some wax buildup, but he could still see the eardrum so he doesn't think that is the entire problem. It could also still be because of the whooshing of the oxygen in the cannula. He has ordered an ENT consult with Dr. Shete who Bill has seen before. She's the one who wanted to rinse his sinuses but he can't be sedated enough to do it. So we'll see what today brings with that. My sister said that a friends daughter lost her hearing due to a medication she was given and I'm going to ask Dr. Threlkeld if the antibiotics could have had something to do with it. 

The breathing treatments are making him cough a lot, but he still won't suction anything out, he just re-swallows it. Yet, he'll say that he needs to get it to come out! I guess that's a man for you!

When I left yesterday Crystal from respiratory turned his oxygen down to 10 since his sats had stayed up for the most part. But, he called me twice last night and the first time he said the nurse and dr. came into the room so he hung up. When he called me back he said they told him he had to slow his breathing down and put him on a mask for a few minutes. They do that, add a mask along with the cannula when his sats drop. What I think is happening is this: first, the probe is on his right index finger and he is right handed. So anytime he uses his hand, eating, writing, holding his phone, he uses that finger and the contact with the sensor could be changing. I actually go a nurse yesterday because I thought the probe was not working properly. I watched his number go from 79 to 95. It shouldn't jump like that, there should be a more gradual increase. Stacy looked and then said that his sats were consistent with his heart rate so she thinks it was just a fluke, what they call artifact. 

I also think that he's getting a little panicky after I leave in the evenings, which makes him breathe faster and shallower and his sats do drop. When he gets that way during the day, the nurses and I talk him down and his sats come back up rather quickly. I think the night nurses are doing that. They just increase his flow, which is making him more dependent on the higher flow which will make it that much harder to wean him. So, another thing to check on this morning.

I know some bacteria has shown up from the bronch, but the cultures hadn't come back according to Dr. Nowak who was covering for Dr. Threlkeld. She did start another antibiotic, one that I don't think he's had before and I can't remember the name of it now, so maybe the cultures did start to come back. They do know that pneumonia is still present in the lower lobes.

I told Bill last night that I needed to leave earlier today. I've got some business to take care of, and it's not something I can have Emily or Brianna do for me. Some things you just have to do yourself! He was OK with it last night, but if it doesn't work out after I get there, it can wait until tomorrow. I also need to get some more supplies for me to eat. It's getting costly at the hospital all the time, even though I only eat 1 meal a day there usually.

So, looking over my notes, that's the day yesterday. Pete got his heart yesterday and from the posts I was seeing from his wife, everything went well and then all of a sudden the heart stopped and his blood pressure dropped. Sounds too familiar! Brought back some not so pleasant memories. She had posted that Dr. Edwards was spending the night in his room with him to watch everything. I'll see how things went in the night when I get back to the hospital. I haven't seen anything on Facebook, but I haven't really looked at it yet.

I'll let you know what we find out, if anything about the hearing loss/med relationship and the oxygen. Could be a busy morning. It's also really warm and really windy, but going to turn colder with the possibility of a wintery mix tomorrow. That should be fun!