At around 9:45 his nurse, Millissa, began the “trial” that is required in order to remove the vent. The respiratory therapist turned the vent way down, so that it wasn’t really doing anything to help his breathing. He was receiving oxygen, but that’s it. He did fantastic during the trial, so at 10:45, Millissa called Dr. Sowden to get permission to remove the endotracheal tube. Sowden gave the OK & within minutes, he had the tube removed. As soon as he was free, the respiratory therapist had him do some exercises to help clear out his lungs. He had to cough, which made his chest really hurt. Clearing his throat hurt. Blowing to have his lung capacity measured was hard, too. But he made it! He was the only heart surgery patient to get off of the vent on the same day as surgery!
Tuesday morning he was visited by Dr. Sowden, who is very please by his progress. He had them pull the tube out of his femoral artery, which is another sign of progress. After removing that tube he had to lie still for 6 hours. He is still groggy because of his pain meds (Dilauded & Vicodin), so he doesn’t really talk a lot. Yes, that’s a really weird experience - Bob, speechless! He ate some Jell-O & has been sipping water & diet pop all day.
In the afternoon his nurse Peggy had the job of detangling a lot of his tubing because they discontinued several of his medications. It took her at least 15 minutes! I asked her if she is the one who gets stuck detangling Christmas lights. She laughed & said yes! Bob’s day was pretty much sleeping with short periods of awakening with a little conversation. If we ask him what he needs, he doesn’t know. If I ask if he wants to take a drink, he doesn’t know. “I don’t know” seems to be the answer he goes with most of the time.
There was shift change at 3:00 & he got his night nurse, Kim. She’s a very competent nurse who watches her patients very, very carefully. All of his nurses have been fabulous! At 6:00, when his femoral artery had had enough time to close, Kim came in & started moving stuff around in the room. She put a blanket over the chair, moved IV poles, shifted tubes here & there & told him it was time to sit up. He told her he’s been getting himself ready for this all day. Kim brought in 3 orderlies to help move him. It was painful for him to sit up for the first time. He became very dizzy & severely nauseated. A little Zofran helped calm his stomach, but he was still quite dizzy. He started coughing, which really hurt. But after he settled down, he was able to sit in the chair for 30 minutes! While he sat in the chair, Don Schlatter dropped by. Don & his devoted wife Jewel are long time missionaries in Thailand who are retired now & live in the Leo-Grabill area. They attend Grabill Missionary Church, where Bob also attends. Bob was glad to see Don. Don prayed with us, a gift that means the world to my dad. He was so grateful for Don’s ministry to him. Shortly after Don left, Bob began feeling weak & dizzy & decided he needed to get back into bed. That isn’t an easy task either, so the orderlies came in again & it took over 5 minutes to get him back in bed.
I spoke with Kim, his nurse, to get her assessment of how he’s doing. She said that her only concern is that he has pockets in the base of both lungs where he’s not breathing deeply enough to get oxygen to those areas. She wants to work with him on taking slow, deep breaths to remedy the situation. He does have a slight fever (101.6), but his stats look great. Tonight she plans on getting him in the chair a few more times, exercising his lungs & keeping a delicate balance of pain control. She wants him to have minimal pain without drugging him so deeply that he can’t respond or cooperate with her directions.
“Praise the LORD. Praise the name of the LORD; praise him, you servants of the LORD, you who minister in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God. Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. For the LORD has chosen Jacob to be his own, Israel to be his treasured possession. I know that the LORD is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. Your name, LORD, endures forever, your renown, LORD, through all generations. For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.” Psalms 135:1-7, 13,14
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