I had to re-read the last post to catch myself up! The last 2 days have been very boring and with computer problems at the hospital, the updates just didn't get done. Then yesterday I spent all evening on the phone, which took up by blogging time. But, here I am now.

Thursday wasn't that great a day, but it wasn't a bad day either. Bill slept most of the morning. I don't know if he was awake a lot in the night or what the cause was, but he just wanted to sleep. Of course, we all know that sleep is one way of our body healing itself, so sleep is good, as long as he still responded when necessary, and he did.

He perked up in the afternoon some and interacted with me and the nurses and watched a little TV. I can always tell that most of the nurses on the night shift are male, the TV will be on ESPN. Bill is not an ESPN watcher unless there is a baseball game on so he doesn't fit the stereotype.

Yesterday was a complete turn around. He was awake and very aware when I got there. All of his numbers were good and he was very "chatty". He shook drs. hands and answered questions, back to the old Bill except for the fact that he actually talk. But his numbers were good, nice and steady.

Dr. Threlkeld said that the antibiotics have been stopped and he'll just monitor for now. He's still on the inhaled antibiotics and they have made a huge difference. Andrea, the respiratory tech yesterday, said that to her the secretions are thinner and not as much. They are still pink tinged, but not the bright red they had been that alarmed us all. We talked about him being just irritated from the bronch and then, since he is on blood thinners, may just be seeping a little blood still. 

I noticed yesterday that is urine is bloody again. So far no-one seems too concerned about that. He's been complaining that his back hurts, low in the kidney area, but I don't know if that's what it is, or if he's holding back with bowel movements since he refuses to use a bedpan and they won't let him use a bedside commode. It's got to be embarrassing for a 77 year old man to just go in the bed. You can't unlearn those habits overnight. We're having the same issue, kind of, with using the condom catheter. He keeps reaching to hold himself which sometimes causes the catheter to come off. At least that tells us that he still feels the urge to go.

Dr. Smith was very pleased with the way Bill looked yesterday. They have adjusted the vent some. It was set for it to give 24 breaths per minute and they turned it down to 16, quite a drop. But, they now want him to start using his lungs more himself. He was still doing fine as far as his numbers went when I left yesterday. Dr. Smith also said that we'll keep him perking as long as possible, or until he stops responding or says to stop. I'll be sorry to see his rotation end this week-end. I don't know who will come on as they have a weekly rotation. But, the patient in the next room is having lots of lung issues also. He's been bronched 3 times in the last 4 days, so maybe Dr. Smith will stay on a few days. We can only hope!

Bill was messing with his remote yesterday afternoon, and he hadn't touched it for a week or more. He was changing channels and calling the nurses by mistake, thinking that the top button was the power button. It may have gotten pretty interesting after I left!

They have started screening visitors at the front door, only taking temperatures for now. I don't know what the protocol would be if the temp was higher than the limit they have set. I don't know if they would turn the person away or take them to another area for testing and/or questioning. I don't want to find out!

I found out that Caleb is not leaving until next month, on the 15th. He's in the National Guard and they are being deployed to Germany to replace a unit from South Dakota training troops near the Czech border. He'll be gone about 14 months altogether. He's never been to Germany so I was telling him some places to go. I'll still miss him...if we're still around then.

I'm going a little later today than usual. I woke up with an upset stomach and a slight temp. It's under what's normal for most people, but higher than mine usually is. I'm feeling a little better now that the medicine has kicked in, but I want to be sure. I'll call the unit in a little while and let them know to tell Bill. If things go back to normal later I may go down. I've had acid reflux every night for the past 3 nights, and part of that is from sinus drainage. The weather has been so crazy. Thursday it was 72 and windy and then the storms came through, or at least they were in the area. If we had any I slept through them. Yesterday it was 50 and windy. So, I'm going to just stick around the house for a bit longer if the temp goes down. No need in driving all that way to be turned away at the door.

If the hospital starts restricting visitors, I hope they make the decision while I'm at the hospital. I have about 4 days of clothes and meds there already and I will just stay and let Em take care of the cats. I don't think they will do that, but who knows.

So, that's how the last 2 days have gone. It was a very good day yesterday and I hope it's as good for him today. He won't like it that I'm not there, but I know he'll be taken care of. And now it's time for trip #5 or 6 to the bathroom. I'll keep you posted!