It's been a pretty good day- we finally got some news that things are looking up a little.  Ron is still very ill but is stable and not getting worse!  He still has the breathing tube because it is necessary for him to get enough oxygen due to his decreased lung capacity.  He will remain sedated for as long as the breathing tube is required.   The doctors say he can probably hear us when we are in the room but won't remember anything.    

You may notice that some of our entries are brief.  We are adding posts by texting updates through our phones while we are at the hospital.  Some of the updates are his vital stats or blood counts - these are also for Ellyn, Laura and myself so we can keep each other updated as to what is going on at the hospital when we are not there.  

We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers and all the posts you've been making.  We will be printing them out and reading them to him as they come in.  

They have him down to 55% oxygen feed from 100% .. He is moving in the right direction :)

Sent on the Now Network� from my Sprint® BlackBerry

Switching to Adavan /sp? New sedative, less fat in it. Changing over slowly. Also going to start tube feeding.

Heart rate 100.  

peep 16.    

O2 96%. 

Resp rate 24 

bp 112/73

Slight Improvement

Ron's red blood cell count is up slightly (9.5 from 7.4 yesterday) and his white blood cell count finally went up (it doubled from 11.4 yesterday to 22.5 this morning).  These are good signs that the antibiotics are doing their job and that his immune system is finally fighting the infection as well.

His nurse reported that his vitals remained stable overnight