Saturday, October 5

Greetings to all Pat's blog followers. Pat remains off the vent, breathing on her own and just on nasal cannula at 2 liters. This is good. So far, no signs of infection. and Pat's numbers are gradually improving. She is smiling at times, and working hard to get better, doing some of her own stretches and physical therapy. Not yet walking, but that will come with time. She is also getting more of her lines out, including both art lines and all her peripheral IVs (she still has central lines).

Now ...

Go to bed tonight. Set your alarm clock to go off every 5 - 8 minutes. Have the AC or heat go on 10 to 15 times an hour. Invite the neighborhood over for a 24 hour pizza party in your living room. And when you just fall asleep, make sure one of people from the party comes into your room to fluff your bed (which is lumpy and isn't yours) and, about once an hour, to poke you in the finger or arm. That's a good day in the ICU. Pat is kind of getting tired of that routine.

But ...

As of this moment she is sleeping, and everyone is working to get her better (except the monitors, which beep at everything including passing motorists).

The shutdown continues to be a curse, but also a little bit of a blessing in some ways. The original plan was for me to have to leave the Safra lodge for a few days because of other scheduled patients and families. Not a disaster, but an inconvenience because I like to stay in Pat's room late, and the lodge is very convenient for that. But because some patients were cancelled due to the shut down, I can stay more days. That's good for me and Pat.

Pat's mom and Suanne are here, and they've been working hard too, to keep Pat comfortable and distracted a little. Valerie brought videos of the grandgirls on her iPhone and showed them to Pat. You should have seen the smile that got.

So we are planning on a bit of a stay yet. We'll keep you posted and, as always, thanks for your comments!

Greg
The good news is she can tell us how she feels, and what position she likes better