An Amazing Day

Jim had an amazing day today. They took him off the vent at 11:30 this morning. She said let's try this for a couple of hours. He was talking away about everyday life. He talked to Teresa. We were trying to get Jack to wish him Happy Birthday. He was talking to the nurses. He was just being Jim. I left about 2:00 and went back at 6:00. He was still off the vent. The tech said he's doing great and no reason to put him back on. We called Jack and talked to him and Jim talked to Teresa again. He even held the cell phone himself. How great is this. I just talked to the hospital and they just put him back on CPAP for the night. They want him to get a good night's rest and they believe he will rest better this way.

Next: he peed 450 cc's in a 12 hour nursing shift. This is fantastic. Yesterday it was 300 cc's. The nurses said this is a definite improvement.

Dr. Van Winkle report: (He's the plastic surgeon specializing in wound care) He says that Jim is vastly improved. The hole in Jim's lung used to be the size of a chewed up thumbnail. Now it is about the size of a pin head. This is huge for us. He said the secretions are way down and the entire site is healing. He does not recommend surgery because what we are doing now is working. He wants to continue on the wound vac. He also said the butt wound is doing great and we need to continue the same course. They explained this to Jim and he was really pleased. Jim asked the wound care nurse tonight if he was going to still have a cute butt. I couldn't help but laugh.

Jim is in such a good mood this week. He talked to the priest today and you could just see the hope in his eyes and voice. The priest saw his Notra Dame blanket and tried to steal it from Jim. He said the Irish are keeping him safe.

I know we have a ways to go but I love seeing Jim in this mood so I am going to hope for the best. Especially since he asked me for a coke today. He has not done this for quite awhile.

The photo is of me doing what I love. This is my escape.