Wednesday, November 18

Today was a great day!  He's been on the sedative all day but seems a bit more aware than he was earlier.  A few of his coworkers at the power plant came by to see him and he opened his eyes and nodded his head when they asked if he knew who they were.  A physical therapist came by and gave his arms and legs a workout.  The filter surgery was fine and they even are even backing off the ventilator a bit.  He's still on it, but he is initiating the breaths himself and as soon as he starts to inhale the ventilator will push a breath into him.  It's part of the weaning process and it's very encouraging.  He was awake and able to communicate (again- nods and head shakes) with Dad, Nancy, and I this evening.  He's still pretty upset about the vent tube down his throat (try swallowing a garden hose and tell me how you feel) and was fighting and chewing it a bit this evening.  The next option is a bite guard to keep him from chewing through the line and I know that will probably just make him mad.  He hears us but is not really interested in lying back and relaxing and not fighting the tube.  This is absolutely my brother's way so we're pretty happy to see him so mad.  He also had the brain-swelling probe removed tonight.  Yay!  It's really nice to be able to scratch things off the list.  He will probably have the MRI tomorrow.

He was awake and aware of us for a long time this evening.  After he fell asleep I left (I'm worn out) but Dad and Nancy are still at the hospital.  They won't make any major changes to his treatment overnight so he should be able to rest well tonight.  Today was a big day and he will surely need all the rest he can get.