It's been a momentous day! I know I have said I wish we could have a 1st string lung doctor and today we got one! Dr. Smith is on hospital rotation this week. I missed him yesterday with having to leave early.

He came in this morning when Bill was getting his breathing treatment, and he had added the nebulized antibiotic again. He said it will get to the pseudomonas directly while the IV antibiotic can't as easily. He went over everything he was getting with Mike from respiratory who was getting things set up.

Bill's numbers have been staying low all day and he just seemed to be struggling. I saw Mike bring a bronch kit by and he just left it inbetween Bill's room and the one next door. The patient next door is new and lots has been going on in there. I had also seen Dr. Smith go into that room, but it wasn't until Mike went in that I knew the bronch was for over there. Those usually only take 15 minutes or so and when Dr. Smith came out he came in here and asked if the treatments had helped. I just kind of shrugged my shoulders and he looked at his numbers. He asked how oftern they were bronching and I, erroneously, told him that he hadn't been bronched since Jan 7. That was the last time he had been bronched before he went up to Restorative. He said he thought he needed it done and I told him I had known it for 2 weeks. And, it's been 2 weeks since the bronch when he was brought back down, so I'll have to tell him. He said when he listened to him yesterday he thought he would need one. I did tell him we were eventually going to palliative care and he said that he still needed to be comfortable and called Mike and told him to bring a disposable kit in. I guess it's easier on the lungs.

When I talked with him after it was done, he said there were no mucus plugs and the secretions were not especially thick, but both lungs were full to the upper lobes. They lavaged and cleaned out a lot of stuff. I hope none of you were planning on pea soup for dinner because that's what he equated it to, just meaning the color.

Bill is still sleeping off the drugs some and his sats have gone back up a little. He's still coughing up some of the saline. I asked him if he wanted to be suctioned and he said he would be OK.

His urine is still a little pink, and when Lizzy emptied his collection bag, it looked more like the color of tea instead of cranberry juice like it had. Dr. Threlkeld thought that the ruptured cyst on his kidney sounded like as good an explanation as any. He's going crazy with all of the coronavirus news coverage and said that he got roped into a news coference yesterday. I told him I saw another doctor on the news I watched last night and he said it depended on the station.

The hospital has added additional precautions for employees. There is now a testing station for employees only and I just heard the nurses talking that if they have a temperature of 100.4, they will be sent home. While I'm glad it's being taken seriously, I'm still more concerned about the flu.

One thing that bothered me today is that during rounds, when they got to Bill's room, Lizzy pulled the door closed, which is very odd. They don't talk loud enough for me to hear anything anyway, but this makes me wonder what they especially didn't want me to hear. What they all need to understand is that, until Bill cannot or does not respond anymore, or if he says he's ready to go to sleep and wake up in Heaven, treatment is to continue as is. That is what the family told the palliative care nurse in our meeting on Saturday. And if they think I don't know that he is dying, they don't know me, and you would think after 116 days in this place, they would know me by now! I do get emotional at times, but I'm also a realist and know that it's coming. Unless God decides to perform a major miracle, and I know that He is quite able to do that at any time, I'm not one of those that is going to refuse to accept the obvious.

He's still sleeping and I'm not sure if I'm staying at the hospital tonight or not. I'm leaning on going home since he's more comfortable now and I know I'll sleep much better at home, even with Cat on my pillow. She leaned over and liked my mouth last night...and then bit my chin! Just telling me she loves me!