Day 63

The trach is OUT!! The trach IS out! The TRACH is out!! THE trach is out!!! Wow!!

At 1:35 this after noon! For some reason the RT made note of the time twice out loud, and then another RT asked for the time again, and she repeated it one more time. So it must have some significance. Anyway, now you all KNOW the time....

He has a large gauze and tape bandage over his "hole." The "hole" looked about the size of my little finger around. They said it should close up in 3 to 5 days. Then a nurse said it should close up in 2 to 5 weeks............or maybe never.....or she knew one that closed up in 3 hours. So you may all "place your bets" as to the time it takes to close!! Winner gets .... one of those new shiny nickels?... a reprieve from my writings?..... a double dose of my writings??.... oh, I know!!! I have one of the things we used to suction him with that was NOT to be put in his trach. I brought it home to boil it clean!! That is what the winner gets.... heehee....

He was pretty sleepy again today. I think he slept through his physical therapy...which consisted of "sitting" up on the side of the bed for ten minutes (with three of us holding him.) I know he slept thru getting his trach out. (Except he gave a great big cough and spewed it out for the RT.) He had to be woke up for lunch and dinner. They sure bring funny stuff for a guy who hasn't eaten in two months. He does not like green peppers at all....he picks them out and gives them to me! At least three of his dishes have been full of green peppers. Today we lifted the lid off his entree to find a sandwich consisting of two pieces of white bread, some turkey, and some melted cheese that I couldn't fork off the bread. He did eat a little of the turkey. He also ate a few tiny bites of his broccoli (this I would have eaten, it was cooked just like I like it!!) And he ate his strawberries that were thinly sliced. It took him two "glasses" of thickened apple juice (four ounces each) to get all this food down.

For some reason, the aides didn't come turn him at all until I asked "why not." I don't like to put him thru that, but they have emphasized over and over how important it is that he be turned every two hours!!

I probably could use some extra prayer, too. Or maybe it is good that I am learning to be more firm with some of the "help." The OT tells me to help her with his treatment, gives me a lecture about how, when, and why....and then if I do offer a suggestion she basically tells me to keep quiet. Today when we had him sitting up, she was telling him to hold his head up. He has no muscle tone and is all slumped over and his head hangs down to his chest. She kept telling him to "hold his head up." So the PT and I both did also. It wasn't working, so I told him to reach for the ceiling with his head. Mom used to have a hard time understanding when I would tell her to stand up straight. I would tell her to tuck her bottom, stick out her chest....but it wasn't until I would tell her to reach for the ceiling with her head that she would understand what I wanted her to do. I believe Stan will process this advice better than the other....and said so. As the OT went to leave the room, she turned and said, "We will use the phrase "hold your head up." I told her, no, I really think "reach for the ceiling with you head" or "put your head on the ceiling" will work better. It not only lets him know what we want, but it also pulls up on his back and tum muscles without our having to tell him. I don't want to confuse him, but I think "hold your head up" doesn't "compute" for him right now. He doesn't seem to understand what he is supposed to do. She took her hands and held his head up. I do that, too, when he is lying in bed and needs to eat. In fact, I have to keep one hand on his forehead holding him up while I feed him. Oh well....I'll do my own therapy, and he will learn.

At the other hospital they would put a "draw" sheet under him... a full sheet folded in half and placed under him....with enough hang over on both sides for the nurses and aides to get hold of to shift him or move him upward. Here they have a smallish pad under him that no one can ever reach. The day he had his shower and his bed was remade, I suggested to the nurse who made his bed up that we place one of those draw sheets under him. Today I heard the OT and pt
say what a good idea it was. (I didn't tell them it was MY idea.)

Well, I am not going to read this over...I have been falling asleep thru out the whole thing...YOU can let me know if there is some weird sentence lurking about.

Love, M