Wednesday morning

Dad's tracheostomy yesterday went without a hitch. Per Mom's instructions, they left his moustache on--I can't wait to see him with that! He was at 100% oxygen just after the surgery, but during the 4:30 visit they cranked it back down to 40%, where it had been before. Both his white blood cell count and his bilirubin count are down, which is encouraging. Now they'll begin the process of weaning him from the respirator, a process that'll be slowed down by his continuing pneumonia. The physician's assistant this morning said they'll try to wean him today but that they don't expect to be successful because of all the fluid still in his lungs. If they can't wean him from the respirator, the progress of his recovery will be quite different. With the trache tube in place, he wouldn't be eligible for the in-hospital rehab program but would instead have to go to a nursing home. So we need continued prayers for his lungs--that the pneumonia continues to clear up and that he starts working his lungs on his own! Emily informed us that St. Bernardine of Siena is the patron saint of lungs and respiratory problems. http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=7

Today is the three week mark from Dad's heart attack. We've all learned patience, and I'm at least beginning to think that his recovery is proceeding somewhat faster than I had expected a week or two ago.