Thursday, March 19, 2015
Update # 189
8 Years
Good things continue to happen daily for Jeff.
Occupational Therapy came mid-morning yesterday and had Jeff sit on the side of the bed. She did some leg exercises and also some arm exercises. She was very pleased with Jeff’s work.
A couple of hours later, only one infectious doc came and said all looks good from their stand point.
Not too long after that, the thoracic gal stopped by to say the chest tube will remain in place. The morning x-ray still showed a tiny pneumothorax on the right side. She said she had yet to see it. But was told Jeff is getting closer to having the tube taken out.
45 minutes later, she returned – the thoracic docs said the tube could come out. She prepared Jeff for what to do when she removed the tube. After she had things ready, she told Jeff to take a breath, hold it, and hum. One tug and at 12:22 the tube was out! Jeff said he felt nothing. The doc who inserted the tube on the 3rd, left a long length of stitch under the dressing which the gal then tied tightly (Jeff felt that) to close the area.
Less than an hour after that, respiratory came and turned off the oxygen on Jeff’s trach collar. He is breathing completely on his own. The warm moist air continues to help cough out the gunk. We’ve all noticed Jeff’s cough is stronger so chest and abdominal muscles are coming back.
Mid-afternoon, Physical Therapy also had Jeff sit on the side of the bed. This time they helped Jeff move back and forth plus side to side. He continued with their leg and arm exercises.
Jeff’s favorite part of late afternoon was the NG tube was pulled out! The tape was having difficulty staying on his nose along with the doc being pleased with Jeff’s amount of food and drink.
The speaking valve is working perfectly – Jeff talked almost the whole day. Nurses who had cared for Jeff during his early intubations days, stopped by to “meet” Jeff. We have wonderful staff – even the techs and cleaning ladies are pleased to see Jeff’s improvement.
We want to thank a pastor friend who came to visit Jeff and us. We appreciated the time and the prayer.
Today was a bit less exciting but brought good things, too.
Jeff is able to move his lower arms from elbow to hand. This morning he held his own juice!
Physical Therapy returned and helped Jeff sit on the edge of the bed. This time for – 13 minutes. Wow! Leg exercises continued.
Jeff’s favorite therapist, Laura from Speech, returned. She heard how PT bragged on Jeff’s progress. Laura decided to reassess Jeff’s swallowing and he now – is on a regular food diet!
The amazing bed is turned into a chair when Jeff eats his meals. This afternoon though Jeff had the bed stay as a chair and sat upright for 3 hours.
Oh, one funny doc comment. The “spring” that was on yesterday’s chest x-ray was “not” there today! Guess the tech got one of the heart monitor leads on film. Oh yeah, that doc was the only one who came in the room today. Progress.
Life is good. Thank you for your prayers that continue to help Jeff see progress every day. It took quite a bit longer than originally planned to get to this point but get here Jeff did. He is beginning to catch up on all the cards, gifts, best wishes, emails and smiles at all. We all enjoy your love and support.
love,
Marcia