I know a lot of you have been wondering why there haven't been any posts for the last couple of days. The main reason is that nothing much was happening!

I didn't go Saturday until late in the afternoon. His nurse called and said he was asking for me and he wanted her to call. She tried to tell him that I was tied up with the heat, but by the time she called the heat was fixed and I was able to go for a couple of hours. I got there about 5. I found out that his sats had dropped in the morning and they had to put him on the vent for about an hour, but it wasn't in vent mode, it was in PEEP mode. That means that when he exhaled his lungs wouldn't completely empty, the air pressure kept them more open. After an hour he was taken off and his sats stayed up the rest of the day.

Emily and the kids had been shopping in Mississippi and they came by the hospital on their way home. Em and McKenna stayed and rode home with me while Brianna and David went on home. We got home about 8:30.

Yesterday was a very dull day. The most that happened was that Bill got very perturbed when I reminded he wasn't going to get any dinner. I talked to his nurse as I was leaving and she looked at the notes the speech therapist wrote and she's very concerned that he keeps having to go back on the vent. But, we talked about the fact that even though he's getting nutrition from the feeding tube, sometimes you have to look at eating for pleasure, and I think that's where we are, even if it's only soft foods. Food was always important for Bill and the act of eating is what he misses. They also push quality of life, not quantity of life, so I can push that he signed the Advanced Directive that indicates that he wants to be offered food and drink by mouth. All he had been getting is ice chips. 

I talked to Emily and Ryan and his sister about it and we came up with a plan, but I wasn't able to put it into action today. The speech therapist didn't come today, but I did hear his nurse tell everyone in rounds that they were working on getting him back on a regular diet.

Dr. Maddox came in and I asked a little about it and he said that it may be difficult with the type of trach he has. But, he didn't say it couldn't be done.

His potassium was elevated again so he had to have the medicine that makes him poop a lot. That's the only way to lower it rapidly. So far they've only given it to him once, but they just recently drew labs so we should know something soon.

The best news we've had all day is that there is a bed available in Restorative Care and he should be going upstairs around 5:30 or so! They specialize in weaning from vents and trachs and difficult pneumonias and are supposed to have intense therapy. Last year when he was there the only complaint I had was therapy was almost non-existent. But, I know better this time around. If all they plan to do is have him wash his face and comb his hair and sit on the side of the bed, I will complain. They also used either the sling or a stander to move him to his chair instead of letting him try to walk. I even have a video from last year when his nurse and the respiratory therapist stood him up and walked him to the chair. But, the OT/PT therapists were not impressed! So, that may be the next battle. I liked the speech therapist up there, so only works that floor and I think he'll get a lot more therapy from her than he's gotten here.

The room up there will be a little more comfortable than this one, but it still won't have a private bathroom so I'll have to keep going down the hall. But that's just a minor inconvenience. Hopefully it will have better channel choices than here, too. Bill will be happier if he can watch things he's used to watching than mining for gold or making moonshine or living in the Alaskan Bush country!

I probably won't update this again tonight. I'll be tired when I finally do get home. I'm glad I bought a few groceries yesterday, so I can just heat something in the microwave when I get home.

My hip is much better, but I'm still carrying my cane around the hospital. It felt good enough Saturday that I got some housework done, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed the rugs from all the cat hair swept the laundry room around the litter boxes and folded some clothes that had been waiting on top of the dryer for several days. I've only taken a couple of the muscle relaxers when I've gone to bed, but I don't get to bed early enough to sleep it completely off since I have to get up so early. I do just as well taking a pain pill instead.

So, he's moving on up and these rooms have a better view!