When I got to the unit yesterday, his night nurse said that he had slept all night and was in a good mood when he was awake. She said she gave him his Seroquel at 8 and that when he woke up, he probably wouldn't go back to sleep. The respiratory therapist said that after I left he was good as gold...maybe I should just stay away!

Anyway, he woke up shortly after I got to the room and he was in a good mood. And he had been shaved and his hair washed! So he must have gotten another bath, or Caleb had come up from step-down. I had stopped down there for ice and water on my way home Wednesday and talked to Caleb and Brian for a bit. Caleb has shaved him before and knows he doesn't like a beard and I said that I had wondered how I could sneak him up there to shave him. And, the next morning, he's been shaved! I didn't see Caleb yesterday to ask and Bill couldn't remember who had done it.

He made 18 hours on CPAP and they were going to try for 20 yesterday. If he made the 20, he would just now be put back onto the vent in SIMV mode. He did try to call the nurse to have them come and turn off the percussions of his bed, but I told him they were on a timer and couldn't be turned off. Only a little lie, the bed is on a timer, but it can be stopped. 

Dr. Mehrotra, who really needs to watch when he crosses the street instead of his phone, wants him on trach collar fast, but Stephanie is still being very cautious. I don't know if he will override her or not. Since Bill is not getting any antibiotics now and is only getting his breathing treatments and percussions, he really doesn't need to be in the hospital any longer. One question he asked was if we have a vent at home. When I told him no, he said then that his goal was to get him off the vent as soon as possible. So that tells me he wants to speed things up.

Of course, Bill is still weak as a kitten so he will go to skilled nursing after this for more intense rehab. And we still have to get the swallow study done and Lisa said she will get it scheduled as soon as he is on trach collar. So, he won't be discharged any time soon.

Bill did cooperate with therapy yesterday. He stood and pivoted with Chris to his chair and then he was able to kind of re-situate himself as he was sitting. His nurse at one point looked at his position and said that he must sit like that most of the time. I looked and sure enough, it was how he would sit at home. He also cooperated with OT, although the impression I got was that he thought it was too simple and childish to do what he was doing. He was again moving the rings from side to side, but she raised the arch and she brought it stiffer clothespins. He did them all quickly but I could tell that he thought it was dumb. That's his favorite word right now, everything is dumbI

I left early yesterday, not because I needed to, but because I wanted to! I did need to go to Walmart and the respiratory therapist told me I needed to go home before dark! It was dark by the time I got home, but I got into town before dark. I went to bed at 8, woke up at 9:21 thinking I had been sleeping for hours, up at 11 to the bathroom and didn't wake up again until 4:15. I haven't slept that long in quite a while!

I ordered Bill a pair of hearing aids yesterday. They won't be as good as ones fitted by an audiologist, but maybe they will at least let him turn down the volume on the TV. He has it has high as it will go and he still tries to turn it up. They will be in tomorrow and I will charge them overnight and then we will see Sunday how they work. 

That's it for yesterday. At least the evil Bill was gone. When I flipped his sign over he started laughing and said he was going to go to sleep too! They hadn't put him back to bed before I left and I'm hoping they removed the sling when they did. At least there were sheets on the bed so maybe...we'll see in a couple of hours!