Update #73

Just got back from Knoxville. Yesterday was a busy day. First, Dave worked on the trach collar for nine and a half hours straight! I think he would have gone longer, but in the midst of breathing on his own, he also:

1. Got his dressings changed - During the change yesterday morning, one of the plastic surgery residents came by and said that Dave is still not ready for a skin graft because the level of drainage from his colon, though decreasing, is still too high. On the positive side, as of last night, the doctors decided to start allowing the original skin graft (the flap that is hanging off of his side that they took off partially when the mesh didn't take) to seal over the scar tissue he has formed as opposed to dressing it so it will stay separate (not sure if that makes any sense, but basically, they are allowing the flap to heal). Also, as of this morning, they removed the two smaller drains from his side and left only the third larger one. Keep praying that the hole will close soon.

2. Got a bath - Sounds relaxing, I'm sure, but a sponge bath that requires rolling on both sides isn't a whole lot of fun, no matter how many bubbles they put in the water.

3. Got a massage - Okay, so I can't think of a downside to this. :-)

4. Did physical therapy - Although we did not meet with the orthopedic surgeon yesterday, Dave's nurse did talk to the orthopedic nurse, and she cleared Dave to sit up without a back brace, which means that the X-rays did not show any additional damage after the "experiment" of sitting him up without the brace the other day. From the sounds of it, any time Dave is up for it, he will be sitting at least a few minutes every day, either on the side of his bed or in a chair.

5. Saw a psychologist - Dr. Williams has been coming by two or three times per week to check on Dave (and us too, I'm sure) and mainly, it seems, to tell jokes. Dave enjoys his company (and his humor), and he has been working to figure out why Dave can't sleep at night (he is the reason that Dave was switched from Ambien to a different sleeping - jury is still out on whether the new med is working or not).

6. Got hypnotized - Yeah, it sounded strange to me too, but in an effort to help Dave sleep better, one of the doctors sent a psychology grad student to see if hypnosis might help. The whole process (which is very similar to meditation) was fairly simple, and Dave did, in fact, seem more relaxed afterward, so Nicole (the grad student) and I sat down this morning to create a CD that Dave can listen to every night before he goes to sleep. I never thought I would be a recorded hypnotist, but at this point, I'm willing to try anything that will make Dave more comfortable.

I'm sure that none of the above activities sound overly strenuous, but up until this past weekend, Dave has not been able to do any of them while on the trach collar. He is seeming much more relaxed and makes tremendous progress almost every day. We're shooting for 24 hours straight eventually, which would be one HUGE step closer to getting Dave out of the ICU.

I think that's it for now. Hope everyone is doing well! Keep on praying - more updates tomorrow.

Love from Cinci,
Kendahl