Dave is off the ventilator for the first time! It's just a trial, and it may be temporary, but while we were in his room during the 11:00 a.m. visiting hours, the respiratory therapists turned off the ventilator completely (up until this point, he has been connected to the vent for pressure support to keep his lungs open when he is breathing on his own) and hooked him up to a trach collar, which is a tube that gives him pure oxygen through his trach every time he takes a breath (pretty much like breathing through an oxygen mask on an airplane, but through his neck). We watched him for about 45 minutes, and he didn't seem to be struggling at all - definitely more focused on his breathing and probably a little more tired from the effort, but his heart rate stayed low and his blood pressure was normal. So incredible!
The cardiologist also came by this morning and said that Dave's EKG was normal for the rest of the day yesterday and his heart seems to be doing fine. Very early in Dave's recovery, the doctors put him on some meds to help slow his heart rate (remember the day when it was at 175 for almost an hour?), and he has been on them ever since. Those meds combined with everything else his body has gone through was probably what caused his heart to stop yesterday. The cardiologist stopped the heart slowing meds and, as I mentioned yesterday, put him on different meds to actually stimulate his heart, and things look great today.
I may have written about this already, but the tube that was draining fluid from around Dave's lungs has stopped draining, and his chest X-ray looks good, so the doctors should be in sometime today to remove that tube from his side.
Overall a positive day so far. Oh, and Dave finally got his soda...pop...carbonated beverage last night. His night nurse Pam decided it would be okay for him to have a little bit on a sponge, so we enjoyed some Sprite together while watching Italian Job on my laptop. Nobody pictures their perfect "night out" in a Knoxville ICU, but I have to say, it was one of the best dates ever. :-)
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5 comments:
Yea! I am so thrilled about your exciting date!!! God is SO good!
Love you,
Sara
Thanks for the update Kendahl. We appreciate your faithful service in keeping this blog. Hang in there... we're praying for you and Dave and can't wait to see you both.
Tell Dave I say "hello". :)
Love,
Justin Riebesel
Ha, Kendahl you are so weak :) It took him one day? Is coffee or beer next. Glad to see the him still progressing and his personality is showing more and more.
Wish I was there,
Chris
Great to hear all the updates Kendahl! It is good to know about the improvements he is making. Thanks be to God! Hope to see you and Dave soon! Peace, Todd
kendahl i know your still in ohio but i want you to know god is watching over dave and god will not let him go god got him this far i just wanted you to know that.
tanner holt
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