Friday was another good day for Ron. First he got to walk to his room bathroom with an O2 tank and sit down to take a shower.  Then visits from Dave D. and Dave M. raised his spirits.  Then the occupational therapist had him play "volleyball" with a balloon and move cones around on the floor while bending over.  He got a longer O2 tube and was able to walk to the bathroom instead of having to use the urinal and bedpan.  He was really excited about that!  He's not as restricted to the bed, now, and that freedom is wonderful.  They all are trying to help him reach his goal to watch The Masters at home. 

The chest x-ray done on Thursday showed that his lungs still have patchy white infiltrates, but look better than they did.  They will continue to do x-rays to check on an area of mild hydra-pneumo-thorax (liquid-filled) under his right lung.  His hemoglobin count is still low, 7.9, which is even down from the last check at St. V's (8.1).  His nurse last night said to check with his pharmacist to see if any of his medications can cause anemia.  Maybe it was low before this whole thing started...  His doctor said it could take several weeks for it to be normal again after the pneumonia cleared up.

His gastro-tube is another issue.  They need it to be in for at least 6 weeks before it can be taken out.  It will be exactly 6 weeks on Wednesday.  If they take it out then, they will want to watch it for a couple days before they release him.  It may keep him in the hospital until Friday which is one day past his goal.

Marge and Charlie, Ron's mom and step-dad, came up to Regency for the Family Meeting with the hospital staff, Andrew, Ron and me.  Everyone was very nice, and the nurses, Dietary, RT, OT and PT are all willing to help Ron try to meet his goal.  They said he will be going to the "gym" on Monday to work on strength and endurance.  He's already working on those this weekend on his own, doing leg lifts and butt lifts, pushing himself up in the bed, and sitting up on the side of the bed. 

Monday they also plan to downsize his trach tube to a size 4.  Then maybe Wednesday they can take it out.  His RT told him it should heal shut in just a few days.

______________________________________________________________________________


Saturday has been another good day. Sorry, I got distracted last night and never got back to finish the update. 

Ron said he slept well last night, and then slept most of the morning, too.  Yesterday was a pretty busy day, and he never got a nap.  He has been walking to the bathroom with just someone there to watch him walk there and back.  He has been still doing well with the O2 tube during the day and the humidified air at night.  The coughing has not been so bad yesterday and today, and he's been eating very well.

Thanks to everyone for all the prayers, cards, and messages.  He's doing so much better, I can actually breathe without having to tell myself to.

Love,
EJ