Don't Faint ! It's Paul Again :)

Just another personal quickie for all my friends, loved ones and family.

Can't talk, can't eat, can't walk, can't drink, practically bedridden ... but things are, surprisingly, improving.

Paul

I love Jo and everything she does for me ... just want her to know that :)

Sunday. July 14,2013. Day 34 in ICU

Paul is doing much better.  Yesterday and today has brought us so much joy and happiness.  Paul has spent most of  today without assisted breathing from the ventilator.  He sat up in a chair for an hour and a half.  He even had another trip outside.

 

The bronchoscope this morning showed that one of the holes in the trachea is smaller and healing.  The hole that was bigger and required more repair looks okay too.  The chest X-ray this morning showed that the air in the chest cavity has reduced from the size of a 2 liter pop bottle to the size of a can of pop.  The intake and output volume of oxygen is relatively even which means there is less and less air escaping into his chest cavity and actually going in and out of the lungs.  As the doctor told me this morning, we are on the road to a very slow recovery, not out of the woods yet, but things are looking better then they have in the past few weeks.  I had the doctor draw on a picture of the trachea where the holes are located, it was interesting to learn that they actually removed a rib in one of his surgeries.  I remember the surgeon mentioning a rib, but it never registered in my brain that they removed the whole rib.  That certainly explains why he continues to have so much pain on his right side.

Paul has not had a fever for several days and his other vitals are getting better little by little....blood sugar, sodium levels and oxygen levels although not back to normal, they seem to be improving.

Thank you for all the cards, get well wishes, emails, prayers, positive energy and smiles across the miles.

I can not wait to start collecting all the hugs in person.  It has been a very long, tiring month.
Jo

Friday July 12,2013

Another good day with a lot to celebrate.
Paul had his morning bronchoscope to clear out any overnight secretions.  No fever.  A trip outside to enjoy the warm sunshine, fresh air and get a break from looking at the four walls of his room.  Paul had ten hours of unassisted breathing.  That in itself is enough reason for me to jump up and down with joy!

I will post some pictures tomorrow because tonight I am just too tired.

Thank you all for the continued prayers, love, well wishes and all the support.
Hugs,
Jo

July 11, 2013 - Thirty One Days in ICU

There is something to be said about being in the hospital for any length of time... you lose all perspective of time!  Today has been an emotional day for both Paul and I.  Neither of us slept well last night.  We both had a rough time with the life and death decision of having the tracheotomy and the fact that Paul had to continue life support on the ventilator.  You would think these are easy decisions to make, but actually they are not.  That all aside, Paul had a good day.  So good in fact that he posted on the blog and I didn't even know about it until this evening when my oldest sister told me about it via Instant Messaging.

Paul did have a bronchoscope this morning to clear his airways.  I hate that they have to do this as I know from what one of the resident doctors told me... each time they go in, there is a chance of damaging the airways and/or causing an infection.  But they did it, it seemed hurried to me, but his airways were cleaned and he did well with it all. Breathing treatments will continue round the clock, every four hours to help keep the airways clear and hopefully reduce the need for future bronchoscopes. 

Paul did well with his first weaning this afternoon.  He spent two hours off the ventilator before getting tired and needing to be put back on it.

An ultrasound was preformed on his arms and legs to check for the movement and new development of blood clots.  The previous blood clots that were found in his arms weeks ago are still there, they have grown smaller, but are still present in either arm.  And no new blood clots have been reported as I type this.  So that is good news for the day! 

Paul's blood sugar was also down this evening, and cause for another celebration since he did not need an insulin shot! 

A good day and we are praying tomorrow will continue to bring smiles, rest, breathing on his own, rest filled sleep and healing.

Good night and may you all be blessed.
Jo

wow a post from Paul

I'd like to thank everyone for love and care, especially my beautiful wife, Jo

Love to you all.

Paul

July 10, 2013

Today started out with hope and expectations. Paul was sure that today he would be able to get off the ventilator and breath on his own. He was hopeful that this would be the day to stop the daily bronchoscopes and was encouraged by the surgeon that he was well enough to get off the ventilator.

This morning the doctors did a bronchoscope to clean out any fluid build up from the previous night. There didn't seem to be much mucus which seemed to be a good sign. I know it was very hard for him as he was not sedated for this one as they wanted him to be alert and awake to try and get him off the ventilator.

At 9:00 AM they took him off the ventilator. The doctors felt that he would be fine instead of trying to wean him over a few more days. He did well with the coughing up phlegm and taking deep breaths all morning. He even was smiling and bright eyed as Elizabeth and Gage came to tell him Goodbye as they were heading back up North for a much needed trip back home.

The doctors came in and did their assessment and ordered his chest tubes off the bubblers.  I'm not sure what the bubblers do, but I think they help drain the fluid that builds up inside of Paul's chest from the previous surgeries as he's had them since the first surgery.  Not long after that Paul seemed to have trouble getting in enough air to cough. I let the nurse know that he was having trouble and she turned up the amount of oxygen going to his oxygen mask. This didn't seem to help, so the doctors were called. Paul had been adamant about not being put back on the ventilator but with the fear of drowning from the fluid in his lungs he agreed not only to going back on the ventilator but also into surgery for a fourth time. When the doctor ordered the ventilator back on, within minutes Paul's blood pressure, temperature and heart rate all increased so much that I feared he might not make it to the operating room. I'm beginning to believe that Paul's body is protesting all the tubes and needles. It seems that whenever they insert something new he has a reaction. Paul was taken into surgery to have a tracheotomy placed to support his breathing. He is once again resting and tomorrow will be a new day.

The tracheotomy is going to present a challenge as it sits right next to the hole that is in the neck from the failed esophagectomy surgery. The ostomy bag, which was put in place because Paul does not have an esophagus anymore, overlaps the tracheotomy tubing.  It seems we continue to come to more and more bridges to cross. As Paul said to the doctor before agreeing to yet another surgery, it is always "one more thing" . The doctor assured Paul and I that the tracheotomy will not interfere with the healing of the repair on the trachea.  All we can do is trust the doctors to know what is best for Paul.

Paul is sleeping and I pray that the rest will be peace filled and give him some healing.  I rest when I can and sleep whenever I feel tired, but the concerns of all this is becoming overwhelming.  I do owe one doctor an apology as I think I lost my cool with her after seeing him from this latest surgery.  It is so hard to watch the one you love go through so much.  Especially when you think the right decisions are already in place and they turn out to be questioned or the feeling of being over ruled. 

Paul continues to be concerned that the daily brochoscopes will cause damage and that the repair that was made in the third surgery is still not completely healed.  We both want Paul to get well enough to go home before we have to go through the now needed Reconstruction surgery in the future. 

I continue to remind myself... One baby step at a time.

Thank you for all the cards that give Paul encouragement.

Hugs to all our family and friends.
Jo

July 9 2013

Baby steps.
Paul has had a couple sessions of breathing on his own.  No problems.
There is still a hole his trachea, but the doctors feel that it will heal.

He is feeling stronger and more positive then ever.
We are looking forward to having conversations and kisses again!
I have decorated his room with cards, tissue flowers,  pictures and of course Charlie the bear.

Thank you all for the well wishes, prayers and positive energy.  We are surrounded by the love that is constantly enveloping us with hope.  We actually feel that we are in a bubble of divine love and light.  No worries can penetrate the positive energy aura that is all encompassing.

Jo

A little fresh air and love

Sunday Paul had a remarkable day and I have to share it as I am overjoyed with the progress. I requested that Paul be taken outside for some fresh air.  I knew it would not be an easy task as Paul is still on the ventilator and has not been out of bed for over a week.  The ICU doctor said it could be done and the surgeon agreed that even though it would require a bit of work it may be just what Paul needs.

A little fresh air..........

 

The blood cultures are negative to any infection in the blood.  More fantastic news…. Paul has gone more than 24 hours without a fever.  The changes in antibiotics are finally working.  

 

 This morning the doctors did a bronchoscope and cleared out the phlegm that builds up inside of him because he is unable to cough while being on the ventilator.  In clearing it out the decision was made that he should have one at night to help relieve the hard breathing while he sleeps thus making his sleep and rest better.   For now Paul will have a bronchoscope in the morning and at night.  We know there are risks involved with having this procedure done so often, but for now it is the only way to keep the lungs from getting a build up that can cause damage to the parts that need healing.

 The doctors are reluctant to take him off the ventilator and Paul agrees to take it very slow and try to do small slots of time of being unhooked to help get the lungs back into working mode.  This weaning may take some time and right now we do not want to rush anything.  Paul has traveled some very rough roads over the last few weeks and the journey on this road is still a long way from being over.  We will cross the bridges as we get to them. 

 

Right now, we are celebrating the baby step achievements.  If nothing else, we are learning to live in the moment and not have any expectation of tomorrow.

 

and Love!

 

 

Thank you for your prayers, comments and love.

Jo

 

Saturday July 6, 2013 Rest......

Bronchoscope done this morning. 

Paul is okay but not strong enough to be removed from the ventilator. 
We will let him rest today and tomorrow. 

Will remove the ventilator on Monday.

So now we rest and I will probably not update until Monday.

Friday July 5, 2013

Paul had a bronchoscope this morning.  Things are the same, they sucked a lot of phlegm from his lungs.  It took him  a lot longer to recoup from the sedation this time.  

They tried to wean him from the ventilator.  He did okay this morning and breathed on his own for almost an hour without becoming tired.  This afternoon was harder.  He had trouble breathing and his heart rate jumped up and his blood pressure dropped.  They gave him medicines to bring down the heart rate and more medicine to get his blood pressure up.  They also gave him three units of blood.  Paul has been on six different antibiotics for several days.  The doctors do not know why his fever jumps up to 103 with everything they are giving him.  

Tonight we are going to snuggle and rest before they take him off  the ventilator tomorrow as per the original plan set into place at the beginning of the week.

Hugs to all our families and friends
Jo