Compared to the last two days, yesterday was fantastic!! Bill was awake and "chatty" when I got there. His trach had shifted so air was getting through and he was making noises. Some of them were actual words at times, other times it was just noise, and other times he was burping. There's still a lot of air in his stomach, I guess from all the fluid draining out now, but he was quite noisy. Then Erin from respiratory came in and repositioned him some and put some air in his cuff and that was the end of the noise.

He stayed awake all morning and interacted with the doctors. Dr. Shirwany said there were no clots in his leg and they would just continue treatment as is. His urine and turned bloody again and Allison said that the night nurse had reported the same thing, bloody to clear and back, so there is a bleed somewhere that is making it's way out of his body. The extra Lasix hadn't affected his potassium level yet and he didn't need any potassium yesterday so that's good. One thing Lasix does is leach the potassium from the body as it increases fluid output.

I told Dr. Morris, the kidney doctor, about the bleeding and he asked if the urologist had been in. I told him if he had, it was after I left for the night. The staff hadn't said anything about any new notes from him so no-one seems to know if he's been there or not. The irrigation is continuing also.

Dr. Threlkeld said that he has a few more days on the antibiotics and then we'll see again what happens. Dr. King from GI came in to see about the feeding tube and it has just about stopped seeping. The dressings are still getting wet, at times, but it's not running down his body like it did. He also hasn't vomited anymore, although he sounds like it at times, and makes horrible faces. But when asked if he's going to throw up he says no.

The swelling has gone done considerably so it must have just been fluid build-up. But, like I said, where it's coming from, or just part of the pulmonary/cardiac failure process, I don't know. I didn't see any weeping from his arms yesterday. His scrotum is still swollen, but not his penis and his left foot looks normal again, although his knee is swollen still. His right foot is still swollen, but not nearly as much as Sunday.

Dr. Sheikh asked if he had been back on CPAP since his episode Wednesday and I told him no. He made some adjustments to the vent, turned the PEEP down to 5 and the respirations down to 20 again and said that he would tell respiratory to put him into a trial. When Erin came to give him his breathing treatment as I was getting ready to leave I asked her if she was going to start it and he had forgotten to tell her! I told her the last thing he said to me was that he was going to tell respiratory right then to do it! So, we decided that we would wait until today, which was fine with me since I do want to be there.

He did both physical and occupational therapy and while he didn't sit up on the edge of the bed, he did exercises on both his legs and shoulders and arms. He did participate with them without complaint and I could tell from the therapists that he was actively participating and not just letting them move his limbs. 

After both of those, and a good bath from Magnolia, he was done for the day. He didn't even wake up when I left! It was also the first day that we had turned the TV on since Friday. I don't know how much attention he paid to it. Yesterday if was an American Pickers marathon. I mostly listened as I tried to finish the baby afghan I'm working on. Just have the edging to do on the top and weave in the ends and it's done.

I have to leave a little early today to take care of some business. Emily or Brianna could do it for me, but sometimes I need to do it myself. I talked with one of the chaplains about this very thing last week, how the world keeps moving forward and the "normal" things of life still have to be done, like paying the bills and different things. And, while it takes me away from the hospital, it also gives me a sense of normalcy in this crazy world. And I'm not leaving really early, about 2, which still gives me time to do what I need to do. All, or most of the doctors will have been there by then so I shouldn't miss anything I need to know.

So, a good day for Bill, which makes it a good day for me. And now, it's that time to get ready and get things gathered up to head out. Let's all hope for another good day today!