Monday Evening

Whew! What a full day. J's room was very busy. He had already seen two doctors and had a chest X-ray before I got here at 9:20. His trach was then changed to one without a cuff. The cuff is like a little balloon that can be inflated around the tube that goes into the patient's wind pipe. A trach without a cuff is much easier to breath and talk around. It is the first step to getting rid of the trach all together. With this new one, J is able to talk some, but he has more strength and volume to his voice with the speaking valve. He received this after lunch today. How wonderful to hear him talk again!

After the trach was changed, we had a visit from the occupational and physical therapists. They helped J sit up on the edge of the bed. They were very impressed by his progress and the strength he has gained in the past few days. The PT provided us with some exercises he could do on his own. J has started these already. He is determined to get out of the hospital as soon as possible. Is anyone surprised?

J also got to actually eat today. He had a liquid lunch and dinner. There were no problems with nausea. We are hopeful that this is a step towards getting rid of the NG tube. Things are moving along in all sorts of ways!

J went down to get a CT scan to check his lungs for remaining fluid. The CT scan revealed several other pockets of fluid on his left lung. As I understand it, the fluid pockets are self contained. The radiologist and the pulmonologist would like to break down the "walls" of the fluid pockets with a medication that works like an anticoagulant (sp?) There is a risk of bleeding that is increased because J is already on an anticoagulant. So, the plan is to hold his current blood clot medication for 3 doses and give him the new medication tomorrow. They will turn off the pump for his chest tube for 24 hours and then try to drain the fluid once the walls have been broken down. This will very likely postpone coming home to Fayetteville for a few more days.

On another note, one of our friends from the waiting room received some very sad news today. After being in the NTSICU for 29 days, they have decided to turn off the vent of Mr. M's wife. Please include this family in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks and Love,

Cara