Friday - June 28, 2013

Day 17 in ICU.

When I walked into Paul's room this morning his hert rate once again was raised.  It was bouncing between 130 to 140.   I continue to hope and pray that it will revert itself back to normal.  I did talk with the ICU doctor, he said it is not that uncommon for someone's heart to act this way after major surgery, and Paul had two major surgeries.  I guess this is a test of patience for me.

It was a very busy day for Paul.  This morning at 9:00 AM, Speech Therapy came to assess his swallowing and to offer their input to his choking when he swallows.  They would like Paul only to have water or ice and nothing else.  The surgeon felt tht Paul could have a clear liquid diet.  I guess they will have to get together and talk about the diet issues.

Paul continues with his Respiratory treatments every four hours.  This treatment includes breathing with a nebulizer and also a good pounding on the chest and back.  It is to loosen up any secretions that are in the lungs.

At 10:30 AM Physical Therapy came in to set a time to take Paul outside.  2:00 PM was set and became the goal of the day.

At 2:00 PM Occupational Therapy showed up and so did Physical Therapy.  After they talked of who     should be doing what and when... It was  decided that Paul would get himself, with limited help, out of bed and use a walker to walk to the hallway to where the wheelchair awaited his escape to the sunshine and fresh air.  This took care of both the physical and occupational aspects of both therapies.  Paul enjoyed his 20 minutes outside.  He enjoyed feeling the warm breeze on his face and did some exercises while sitting in the wheelchair.

At 3:30 PM the Ostomy therapist came by to help with the problem of his Ostomy bag leaking when he wants to drink.  She and I worked together a bit with her ideas.  She has created a set up that we will try as soon as his present bag starts to leak and needs to be changed.  The Charge Nurse helped me with the last one so we are hoping it will last at least the rest of the day.

About 5:30 PM, Paul started having a hard time catching his breath.  His oxygen level dropped and no matter how hard he tried, he could not get it back up.  The nurse called the Respiratory Thearipist to give Paul extra oxygen.  They also drew a Blood Gas to check his oxygen levels.  Chest X-ray ordered and EKG.  The ICU doc was in here immediately and so was the surgical on-call doc. I had thought about going to get a good night sleep in bed, but looks like I may be spending the night in his room.  I hate to leave when he is having any kind of problem

It seems as through we take a couple of steps forward and then one step back.

I will update either late tonight or tomorrow.

Hugs to all our families and friends.  Thank you all for being here, in spirit, with me.

Jo