Sunday Night- Two Thumbs Up!!!

          Visiting hours are closed from 6-8 am and 6-8 pm for shift change.  Mom came home at around 6 pm and said that they had decreased the sedation such that he was starting to wake up a little.  They also started him on Lasix earlier in the day to help flush out the excess fluid in his lungs and extremities. They were able to flush about 1.5 liters out by the time mom left to come home.  They hope to continue flushing out more fluid during the night.  It as also nice to hear that they had him sitting at the edge of the bed for a few minutes this afternoon.   

He will remain on the vent tonight.  If all goes well throughout the night, they might try to take the tube out tomorrow.  This is mostly a guess on our part, as it will be the physician that determines when this will happen. Unfortunately, we missed talking with the physician today during his rounding on patients.

When Mom and I went to see him again tonight just after 8 p.m., he was awake and for the most part alert. (the medication that they used to sedate him is still in his system) so he was very tired. We again were able to communicate by yes and no questions.... The tube down his airway is still his biggest complaint.  He can't wait to get it out!!!

As you can see from the picture I posted above, Slim was able to give a 2 thumbs up on his being awake and progressing.  If you look closely, you can see a portion of the tubes that are going into his airway.  You can also see that on his left arm, there are multiple connectors to the IV line.  This is where they connected a portion of the many meds that they had him on over the last few days.  You will also notice the restraints. These are in place to keep him from pulling out the ventilator tube either accidentally or at some level, intentionally...  Sometimes patients can be so agitated by the tube that in a subconscious way they attempt to remove the tubes. This is something we don't want to have happen at this stage of his recovery due to his initial intubate issues.

The picture below shows the many pumps they used to help push the different medications into him.  At one point all of them were going at the same time.  Tonight he was still on only 7 meds. Good news!

Overall it was a great day.  He is not out of the woods yet, but is now headed in the right direction.  He is still quite weak and fatigues quickly.  Once they can remove the tube he will get busy with early stage cardiac rehab.  He will also have a difficult time talking for a day or two after the tube is pulled out.  Mostly due to the irritation from having the tube in for so long.

We continue to appreciate every ones thoughts and prayer on his behalf.

Jaren