Saturday, December 12

I am tapping out this update on my phone from my parents' warm and toasty house on Whipple Run, so please ignore any weird formatting.  Friday went pretty well for Bill. We thought he might get the permanent pacemaker but unfortunately he spiked a fever at the last minute. The permanent pacer will allow him to sit upright again which is better for mind and body. The temporary pacer has a line going in through his leg that can not be bent so he has been flat on his back for the last week. It it also one big leap closer to getting out of the ICU. Anyway, because of the potential for infection, the surgery was canceled. He got lucky and did not have to do any trach collar breathing trials either. He had several visitors who commented that his spirits were better than they had been previously. I'm not sure, but even Bill might admit that Friday was a good day.

Saturday is shaping up to a good day as well. I just spoke with Dad and he said that Bill did a one-hour trach collar breathing trial this morning and that it went really well. His stats were stable the whole time and more importantly, he did not have any panic attacks. Yay! I think Dad and I might be playing good cop/bad cop but I'm willing to go along with it if it means that Bill can do it AND prove to himself that he can do it. I am the bad cop, if you are wondering. Apparently I'm too pushy, which I always assumed was in my big sister job
description. They may do another trial this afternoon. I'll update again tonight if anything big happens.