The only real change yesterday from the day before was that Bill responded to people by opening his eyes. Other than that, it was basically the same as before.

He had thrown up again in the early morning and it seems to be a pattern that when he first throws up it is his formula. So, his feeding is stopped. But then it changes to bile and whatever else is in his stomach. And he doesn't throw up a lot. 

Dr. Wright ordered more blood gases first thing in the morning and his CO2 is/was still high. He was sounding a little gurgly so before 8:30 he bronched him. I probably could have sat right in my little chair. I sat in the hallway outside the door and watched since they didn't close the door. I also don't think they used any sedation, but Erin could have given him something. It only took about 10 minutes. He said he got some stuff from the middle lobe of his right lung, but nothing from the left one. So, we'll see what grows besides pseudomonas.

He threw up again after that and it was all bile which was yellow/green and gray. I know that sounds gross, but your gut is a really dirty nasty place so who knows what is normally there and the colors. Zofran hadn't seemed to help, except for making him sleep more along with the CO2 being high. 

Dr. Wright used a really long word for what was going on and then he said that it was doctorspeak for his CO2 is high and so far we can't get it down. They adjusted the vent again, increasing the pressure. What that does is force the oxygen in harder to get it to the bottom of the lungs which should force the CO2 out. They didn't repeat the blood gas to see what the levels were before I left so I don't know if it really worked. But, after the bronch, Bill opened his eyes and looked at me. I don't know if he really focused or not, but they were open for a second or two.

Dr. Threlkeld said that he had ordered some blood cultures Wednesday night and was starting him back on Zerbaxa and daptimycin and would adjust as necessary. Dr. Wright also ordered two new nebulized treatments. I don't know if they are both antibiotics or not. Erin said he ha been on one of them before so I think it is, but she said the other one they had never used and had to order it from an outside pharmacy. All of those started yesterday.

Dr. Morris said kidney numbers were staying stable so we would just keep going the way we were.

I did find out that when his white count dropped so low it was 1.5. Normal is 10-12 (these are thousands) and Bill is usually "normal" at 13-15. So, 1.5 is dangerously low, in the blood cancer range. The medicine they had given him to raise it brought it up to 5. His red blood count was good. It did make me wonder if there wasn't something wrong with the blood he received on the 11th. I need to remember to ask one of the doctors that today. He got blood on the 11th and the 13th is when I noticed that something was off.

Bill stayed asleep most of the day, but he would open his eyes if someone talked to him. He had both PT and OT and they are now basically just range of motion exercises. Jody from OT came back in and said that she needed to talk to me and seemed upset. She said they (OT) were going to sign off on him for now since PT can do the same exercises. I think she thought I was going to be upset but I told her I understood. OT is more for relearning how to dress and groom and he wasn't to that point. She did say that they would continue to follow him and if he got to a pointt again where he would benefit they would certainly return, but they really couldn't justify billing for therapy when he wasn't getting any!

I also had an unusual visit from one of the case managers. She said that the doctors had ordered home health and wanted to know which company we wanted to use. I told her Kindred which is who we used before, but I'm really wondering which doctor thinks he can go home! He can't even go to a nursing home because of the medicine he's on to keep his blood pressure up. It has to be fine-tuned so much that a nurse would have to be in the room at a facility 24/7. There's also the fact that he can't sit or stand or walk. So, I don't think they want the bed for a COVID-19 patient. I doubt that Dr. Edwards would allow highly contagious patients be around transplant patients with compromised immune systems.

Before I left yesterday Bill did squeeze my hand (hadn't done that all day with anyone) and when I told him I loved him his mouth moved, and it hadn't moved all day. I think he was saying I love you too, which is what he would normally say. Maybe today he would have gotten enough of the antibiotics in to start fighting what is happening and the pressure got more of the CO2 out. I can assume that he's holding on since there was not a phone call from the hospital in the night.

There have been a couple of funny things that happened in the last few days. I'm either losing my mind completely, or just tired enough to see humor where there really isn't any. First off the buttons that I "lost" the other night. I found them when I got home yesterday, on top of the roll of paper towels in the kitchen! White buttons on white paper towels! But, at least I found them. Even though Yolanda was happy with her puppy dog buttons, I can now do more with these.

When I go home through town, I pass a dry cleaners and they have a sign out front that reads "Jesus is alive check web site for specials". That struck me as funny. What are the specials, 2 for 1 baptisms? Or maybe 50% off angel robes? 

And last night there was a crop duster headed straight for me on an angle, and I didn't think of crop dusting, all I could picture was a world war 2 movie where the single plane flies over and starts strafing the road, shooting up the convoy of vehicles! See, I told you I was losing my mind!

That's it for the latest update. I tried to do this from the hospital yesterday, but of course the internet wouldn't connect, even using my hotspot. I don't know if I'll take it today or not. But, I'll let you know when there's a new post at any rate. Stay safe!