kayaking on Loch Leven near Glencoe, Scotland, 2018

kayaking on Loch Leven near Glencoe, Scotland, 2018

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Life in PCU

Eric, Bob, and I are "living large," as our favorite ICU nurse Randy loves to say. Things are going well in PCU. Eric slept better last night than in a long time, and Bob and I enjoyed not having to split the night into two shifts. Occupational therapy came by this morning bearing gifts of applesauce, chocolate milk, and the long awaited lemonade. Eric did great with the swallowing, trying a little of each. It upset his stomach, but he hasn't had real food in nearly a month. So that will take time.

The pulmonary doctors, who are formally following Eric now, came by, still smiling. They want to slowly wean the ventilator until we can do trach mask trials. His current vent settings are CPAP 5, PSV 8, FiO2 .30 during the day. SIMV 8, pressure limit 16, 10/5 PSV/CPAP at night.

Physical therapy came. Eric exercised his limbs and sat on the edge of the bed for five minutes. Then a psychologist came. But by that time, Eric was napping. Maybe she'll talk to him tomorrow.

A new friend, Lee Ann, kindly took me to Target today. Now that we have more storage in our new room and can truly move in, I bought some healthy food; milk, cereal, yogurt, cheese sticks, strawberries. And I bought Eric some button down shirts and casual shorts so he can get dressed!

Since Bob will be heading back to work before too long, he started his trach care training today, learning how to suction and how to clean the trach. We need to learn all this in the likely event that Eric will come home with the trach and possibly the ventilator. But in my usual optimistic fashion, I'm hoping he continues to recover quickly and returns home with neither.

11 comments:

Meryl-Sue said...

What wonderful news... Thanks be to God for all of His miracles. Wish I lived closer to Houston to be of help to you. Sometimes the caregiver needs care...
Love to Eric and Bob. As always, my love, thoughts and prayers are with you. See you soon.

Anonymous said...

What great news! And Target! How wonderfully mundane and exciting! Can't wait until you ALL get back. Congratulations, Eric, on your progress. We miss you all.
C#

Linda M Au said...

You know, I come here now every evening about this time, eagerly awaiting my daily dose of uplifting news. I make sure no one is watching me because your updates lately always make me bust out crying (like now).

Thank you again for these faith-affirming updates, especially if they are difficult to find time or brain space for.

And thanks for posting a picture of Eric, by the way. It has helped me to pray ... and how wonderful for my prayers to now start off with a happy, "Thank you, Lord!"

Vicki Loucks said...

Who would have ever thought that a trip to Target would make so many people across the country smile and utter "Thank you Lord"!! Keep those positive thoughts!

Anonymous said...

I BROUGHT A PICTURE OF ERIC FOR EACH OF THE LADIES IN MY BETH MOORE STUDY GROUP AT TRINITY AND THEY WERE ALL HAPPY TO HAVE A FACE TO PUT TO THEIR PRAYERS. WE ARE ALL SO VERY HAPPY OF THE PROGRESS ERIC HAS MADE. PRAISE GOD.HOPE TO MEET ERIC AND YOUR FAMILY WHEN YA'LL COME HOME.
JOAN

Haley Delaunais said...

I am glad to hear that Eric is doing better! I am a 6th grader at Moss Bluff Middle. We recently held a funraiser for Eric and I really hope it helps y'all out. I am also in BETA at MBMS. All the BETA students made a video for him and we really hoped it cheered him up. May God bless all of y'all and just so you know everyone back in Moss Bluff is wishing the best!

Aunt Lisa said...

Tears of joy I tell ya! I love you guys...I mean, love y'all!!

Anonymous said...

So exciting to read all the progress that is being made. A trip to Target, Wow! Who would have thought that would be a treat. Glad to hear you have room to stay together. I pray for all of you and thank the Lord every night for the blessings you have received.

bev

jess said...

So happy things are looking up. Praise God! Praise God!

Shannon said...

Wow! Great news. Thanks for the update. Q was very excited to hear Eric was out of ICU and it sounds like he's doing great in PCU.

Y'all are in our thoughts and prayers, as always.

Mindy Blanchard said...

Great news Great news! God is good!