I panic a little each morning when I wake up, wondering what I have missed during the night as Dave heals in the hospital room. It is very hard to trust anyone with your loved one's life when you have just met them and last night was Laura's first with us as DAve's nurse. She believed that it was best to allow DAve to rest through the night so he was sedated quite heavily, given morphine in case he has any pain that we don't know of, and only disturbed to suction his breathing tube when he coughed into it. Although our daytime nurse/friend Wendy would like to see more done to move DAve's recovery along, I am more able to leave and rest if he is resting comfortably, even if he is sedated.
Today Dave underwent a brochial scope to look into his throat and lungs to see if they seem ready to remove his respirator. Dr. Cleveland seemed relatively pleased with DAve's progress, even though there is still some swelling and inflammation.He is prescribing some steroids to reduce swelling and breathing treatments that are attached to his respirator to help expand his lungs. This is great news and I am hoping for him to be ready tomorrow.
Another wonderful moment came when the team of physical therapy girls came into the room...they are so cheerful and upbeat and they worked together to swing Dave to the edge of the bed, "dangling" him ...that's a technical term. He was helped to sit upright at the edge with his feet on the floor and support himself. WOW! He loved the feeling of being off the bed and able to do something for himself. He is definitely very weak but I think that this helped him believe in his ability to recouperate. He also didn't mind the physical therapy cheerleaders!
Night comes again and the optimism of the day always fades in the dark. Why is it that we feel so alone and freightened in the night? The new night nurse said some scarey things about Dave's condition and I went home at midnight worrying about the future. I made a conscious decision to not let these fears and doubts enter my mind...God is looking out for Dave and so am I, and I trust the DRs. and nurses that have brought him this far.
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3 comments:
Melody, good seeing you this afternoon. Glad to hear Sarah is back to visit for a couple of days. Great news about the "dangling" of the legs over the side of the bed. We will continue to pray for Dave and speedy recovery. Getting the breathing tube out will be a wonderful step forward. Can't wait to hear it is out! Love, Al and Barb
Melody, its so good to hear that Dave is improving daily. We have enjoyed keeping up to date with your daily reports. How wonderful for all of you. Our prayers are with you. Hope your taking good care of yourself because Dave will really need you to help him. Give Sarah a big hug for us and e hope to see you soon. Dan & Cindy
P.S. How's the knitting going?
Hi All,
I know Dave from work and skiing, almost 20 years. Dave is awesome. I expect to be skiing with him in Alta soon.
My best wishes to the Arndt family.
Phil Hemenway.
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