Tuesday, December 21

Again, not much to report today. Nothing significant has changed in Dad's condition--he's still stable and continuing to recover with all the same medications he was on the past couple of days. Emily spoke with the respiratory therapist and asked about the oxygen support, wondering at what point they switch to no ventilator. The therapist said that they don't go below 30% support (Dad is currently on 40%), but when they take a patient off the ventilator, they continue to give oxygen for some time. It's more of an art, it seems, than anything--there are no hard and fast rules for how they determine when a patient no longer needs the ventilator.

Mom took a much needed break for a bit this afternoon, finally skipping one of the visiting times. With Emily in town and Katie and Amy beginning their Christmas breaks, we are able to get into the hosptial more often to see Dad, so he's certainly not without company.