Ron was sound asleep earlier, so I left the room from 5:05 to 5:20 to walk and exercise by going up and down the stairs.  When I got back, the curtain was pulled, the nurse was in here, and I thought she was just repositioning him, so I waited in the waiting room down the hall.  His brother, Thom called me, so I talked with him a few minutes.  When I came back in, the nurse told me she had heard his ventillator alarm, came in to check it, and found him scrunched down to the bottom of the bed, his legs off the side, with the vent tube popped off his trach tube!  He had wakened up, didn't recognize where he was, and apparently tried to get up out of the bed!!!  He asked me when he saw me if he was in the right room, still a little confused.  Needless to say, the bed alarm is now on, and both rails are up. 
 
 We were both surprised that he was strong enough to move that far!  He is getting his strength back pretty quickly.  He can now hold the TV remote and push the channel changing button (which is, of course, at the top of his priority list.)  He was determined enough to do that yesterday, I knew it wouldn't take long.
 
 

Ron is pretty alert today, but he does not remember yesterday.  Andrew, Laura, and I were all here with him yesterday evening, and were able, between the 3 of us, to figure out some of what he was saying.  He has not lost his sense of humor; when the night nurse came in to introduce himself and tell Ron he'd be taking care of him, he asked if he could get him a Bud Light.  He was figuring out where he is and why, but today, did not remember. 
 
They have taken away his IV fluids except the Cefepine antibiotic every 12 hours.  The fluids and Atavan, they are giving him through his stomach tube, which is moving the right direction to wean him gradually from all the hook-ups and machines.  He is still on 2 mg of Atavan every 4 hours, and Fentanyl as needed.  His temp is normal, 98.2, and all the numbers are the same as yesterday.  They had lowered his O2 input to 40% by last night, and it is still there today.
 
A resident surgeon was in to remove some the gauze that had been packed around the trach.  He said it looked good, and did not even bleed when he was working on it.
 
They just took him down for a CT scan of his lungs.  The morning xrays must not have told them enough information.  His last CT was 2 weeks ago tomorrow, so they can compare to that.
 
He is still coughing up a lot of stuff from his lungs.  He is getting movement back and can get his hand up to his face more easily today.  He is still weak and couldn't write words when he tried with a pen.  He could hold the pen and make marks on the paper which he couldn't do yesterday.
 
Laura and I trimmed his toenails and fingernails, and they have shaved him about every other day or so.  He's in pretty good spirits and says he's comfortable.  He still is emotional from the Atavan, and tears up when one of us leaves after a visit.  He is starting to get used to all the tubes and wires.
 
We appreciate all the cheery messages, cards, prayers, and phone calls.  Thank you, everyone!
 
Love,
EJ