Sunday, February 22, 2015

Update # 167

8 Years

Sabbath – a day of rest, time for worship.

This was a true day of rest for Jeff. He has been quiet with no real issues of high blood pressure. The daily x-ray again appears to be the same but more than one person today has said that Jeff’s lungs sound better.

Jeff did well when they bathed him and when they partially shaved his beard. Slight rises in blood pressure but no spikes or agitation. The “holster” on his face that keeps the ventilator tube in place needed to be replaced. Since they had difficulty getting the arterial line dressing to stick due to his beard, today they decided to first shave the cheek areas. Not sure if he’ll like his new goatee look!

The oxygen level was lowered a bit and Jeff has shown no problem. Levels look good. His blood sugar is coming down from that one med so small amounts of insulin were needed today. The potassium continues a slight rise and fall. Late afternoon, it looked like Jeff’s temperature was rising but currently has gone back down. We pray he does not get any fever.

With this restful day for Jeff, Ken and I headed home for a quick trip. I needed to get rid of a few more “warm vacation” things (I left home Feb. 5th) but mainly to get my car. We checked out of the hotel and will begin our stay at Hope Lodge. If each of us have our own vehicles, we don’t need to worry about who has the car keys. We left late morning and listened to a worship service on the radio. I returned a couple of hours later. Ken wanted to do a few things at home so he’ll come back down tomorrow. Hillsboro certainly received more snow than StL. We got into the driveway/garage okay with the van. But leaving the driveway with the car was not successful. Ken did get the car back in the garage and then had to get the snow blower out of the shed to clear a path. That was fine until then I got stuck in the alley from our driveway to the street. A few minutes of rocking and I was on my way.

Ken’s brother stopped by the hospital to visit during our time at home. He was able to talk with Meridith a little before then continuing South to Perryville to visit their Mother. Thanks for coming.

We are requesting prayers for tomorrow. Pulmonary docs and BMT docs feel Jeff is ready to begin tests to wean him off the vent. We pray Jeff has another good night so this process can begin. We’ve been told that “young” people fight during this time of trying to see if they can function on their own. It may be a long day of trying different amounts of time. different levels of oxygen and different levels of sedation.

Our thanks to all who prayed for Jeff today in their worship services and have added him to their prayer lists. It is comforting to know each of you care so much for Jeff and also for Meridith, Ken, and me. Your emails and texts are greatly appreciated.

love,

Marcia