Update #81

No more vent! No more vent! (Yes, I'm a dork, but you know you want to cheer too...)

It's official - the ventilator has been removed from Dave's room! I stayed with him again last night, and he slept peacefully on the trach collar from 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. and from 3:15 a.m. to 5:45 a.m (probably the most continuous sleep he has gotten since before the attack of sepsis). I had planned on leaving for Cincinnati as soon as the nurses kicked me out at 6:00 a.m., but Dave was at 46 hours straight of breathing on the trach collar, just two hours short of the 48 necessary to get rid of the vent, so I couldn't resist sticking around until visiting hours started again at 8:30 a.m. to celebrate. I just talked to Den, and Steve, one of the respiratory therapists, removed the vent from Dave's room after I left this morning. I think the presence of the machine was a reassurance to Dave even though he hasn't needed it, so Steve told him that there are 60 more just like it floating around UT and that they could get another one if necessary. Obviously, it worked, because the blue machine that has occupied the left corner of Dave's room for so many weeks is now gone.

If the vent removal isn't enough to make your day, the doctors gave Dave a shot of pain meds in his hip earlier today, and when he sat up in the chair (which he was doing when Den and I were talking), his hip didn't bother him at all. Overall, he is seeming very relaxed (probably a combination of the sleep and his 45 minute massage today) and is doing great.

In the midst of such positive progress, please remember to be praying for Dave's right eye. Of all the injuries, pains and changes that he has experienced as a result of the accident, the blindness is by far the most frustrating for him.

Short update today, but very positive. Thanks for the continued emails, blog comments, cards and letters reminding Dave (and us) of your prayers. Even now, 11 weeks after Dave's accident, I find myself looking at the map in Dave's room and smiling at just how covered he is.

His Spirit, His will, His peace, His glory...