It's a great day!

The respiratory therapists have started to wean Rob off the ventilator today! They planned to start yesterday but he seemed very restless so they weren't able to make much progress. As it turns out, his IV port had become infiltrated so the sedatives and other drugs weren't getting directly into his veins and thus not working properly. They moved that IV to his other side and it's working great. This morning he started at a PEEP level of 12 and an oxygen level of 57%. This afternoon they have taken his PEEP level down to 10 and his oxygen level to 45%. So in just a few hours, he's making great progress. His PEEP level has to be at a 5 to remove the ventilator tube. They have to take the levels down slowly to make sure he maintains well at each level before they take another step down. So far he's doing great. The nurse said it may be tomorrow before the tube can come out, depending on his progress.

Otherwise, he has no temp and his maintaining everything else quite well. His sugar levels are being checked every hour and they are normal. His belly pressure is holding normal as well. He is still putting out more fluid than he is taking in. So his swelling is going down a little each day. That is great to hear since he was retaining such a large amount of fluid. It will take a while to get rid of all the excess fluid but he's coming along well.

Once the ventilator tube comes out, they can start to slowly bring him out of sedation. Once he maintains well after that, he'll be able to move to a room on the regular nursing floor. That will seem like the Hilton to us after 2 weeks in ICU. I'm looking forward that.

Looking forward to posting even better news soon...

Kelly