Day 9 - December 30, 2012

Today was the first day on the new set of medications.  They kept him on a low/moderate level of sedation and he stayed in a half-wake half-sleep state.  He would open his eyes some, but did not really seem to focus on us while talking.  He stayed relatively calm most of the time.  He moved in the bed just a little, trying to slide himself up, sit up a bit, or move his legs, but not nearly the level of movement and restlessness that we saw a few days ago.  If that had been the case, I am sure the doctor would have increased his sedative because he is still worried about the wound from his tracheostomy.  There was also one time that his heart rate and blood pressure increased and he became agitated so they gave him a dose of morphine to help him relax.  He did not need the respirator from 8:30am through about 3pm.  He is doing well breathing on his own.  An afternoon chest x-ray showed improvement in the pneumonia that they had spotted the other day which is a good thing.

So, I don't really know that we learned anything new today.  Hopefully, with another day or two, we can see if he can stay calm on a lower dose of sedative and he can wake up more calmly and move forward.  I can only imagine how scary and confusing it would be to wake up in an unknown place, feeling achy and terrible, hooked up to machines, restrained so that you are not pulling out important IV and respirator lines.  I just pray that we can get to a safe, longer term awake where he is less stressed.

UPDATE:  So based on my evening conversation with Aubrey, it sounds like Dad is getting more active as the night goes on.  He just lifted one of his legs high into the air and Uncle Dave tried to push it back down.  Dad fought him on it and kept tugging it up and away.  He is also squeezing my Uncle Tim's hand with his own whole hand and a good grip.  Not necessarily on command (as in "squeeze my hand if you hear me") but we are hoping more than just reflex.