7am The lights are coming up and the hall is filling with people for shift change. John's night was quiet and restful and this morning he looks more like himself than he did yesterday. Today if it were not for the setting and tubes and such it would be easy to believe he was just sleeping.I do not know what today will bring, for the moment I know that John's hemoglobin is 13 which means that any active bleeding has been stopped or slowed to an insignificant trickle. His white count is still elevated but cultures aren't growing anything yet and he has no fevers and clinically he continues to improve. Yesterday he sat up for 4 hours, today I am hoping we can get in 6.
Noon After a good bath and getting all his dressings changed and his wound drain pulled out John is sound asleep sitting up on a cpap trial, essentially breathing on his own with a little oxygen and pressure to make up for having to breath throu...gh a tube. He had to have a few stitches put in to hold his central line in but did well with that. Extubation is up for debate, no one doubts he is ready and yet everyone is concerned about how many secretions he has and of course having the tube in let's them help suck them out but the tube itself creates them so we wait. No dialysis today, his kidneys are still weak but cleaning enough to wait one more day, he will get more Lasix today and we'll see what his kidneys have accomplished in the morning.
The entire atmosphere of John's room has changed, the nurses stop by to talk and laugh a bit and it is so much more relaxed, John is still not off this tightrope but seems to have picked up both speed and strength in his forward steps and we praise God for each step and for the net continually in place!
4pm After discussion extubation has been slated for sometime in the morning. John has gotten 5 stitches, 2 to attach his central line so it won't fall out and 3 to close the hole where his wound drain came out. He has also gotten his art-line removed, this was the line that showed them John's blood pressure every few seconds and he no longer needs to be that closely monitored. Most exciting to me at the moment is that he has green stuff coming out of his ostomy, this is the first time since transplant that his new little bowel has put out anything other than blood or digested blood.
Gina and I talked as she went back to the room to go to bed and told me that he has had a long and productive day. Not only has he had the stitches and sitting up for longer today than yesterday, he has also had at least one CPAP trial where the switch the settings and John has to breath on his own with just a little support to keep his airway open. John came through this like a trooper and while doing it appeared to be sleeping calmly and peacefully through a test that when they did it the last time, on the 2nd of December, he was not happy about one bit.
We give thanks to God for all the kindness, generosity, encouragement, and prayers. There are so many that share this on the internet, and on prayer lists, and all over the place that it is simply amazing what the Lord is doing. Here is a picture that we posted on Facebook yesterday, but I forgot to include it in last night's update.
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