Friday, January 29

This week was better than any of us could have imagined.  It seems like Bill really has turned that proverbial corner and was motivated, agreeable, and downright jovial this week.  After a bit of a showdown with his nurse on Monday regarding what time he should get up in the morning (anyone who knows Bill will surely agree that this is completely within character for him) something clicked and he stopped struggling against every single little thing.  I would hold my breath every morning this week, afraid that the pattern had finally broken, but it never did.

He continues to work on the anxiety and on Wednesday he met a therapy dog.  The dog happened to show up just as a procedure with his trach was being started.  The speech and respiratory therapists will deflate the air in the cuff that holds his trach in place so that when he exhales the air goes up past his vocal cords (rather than out through the hole in his throat) and he can talk.  For some reason, deflating his cuff has led to massive panic attacks the past week or so but he was so transfixed by the dog that he didn't panic at all.  I was not actually around when this happened, but I have been instructed by Bill to be there next week and meet the dog for myself.  I've seen this dog in the halls of the Shepherd Center and can say without a doubt that she is the most obese Rottweiler I've ever seen.  I heard she crawled into Bill's lap and stole his heart. 

I know that there will be other setbacks and bumps in the road, but it has been so great to have experienced this week.  For once things seemed to go better than expected and I hope Bill realizes that, too.