Baby Steps

         Look who I took a shower with this morning! My boys all loved Ninja Turtles.

             I saw this in the parking lot this morning. Bruce loves to read license plates.

     Was greeted with a wink and a nose wrinkle this morning!

   Still grimacing.

     He was lifting his eyebrows up and I couldn't figure out what he wanted. I said,"the lights?" And he shakes his head. He lifts his eyebrows up again. I say, "oh the washcloth!" I get it wet and put it on his forehead. He has a fever and there are three ice packs on his chest and side.

      The IV is out they are giving him medicine to reduce fluid, he is pretty swollen. He filled almost 2 liters today of waste liquid.

    He is breathing on his own so they should take the tube out soon. He needs to be able to cough or they won't take the tube out.  His breathing is strong, his cough is weak.

    He was trying to tell me something about his feet. I asked him if he wanted lotion. He kinda sighed and nodded. I put foot lotion on his feet. He must have wanted something else but I couldn't figure it out. I finally asked the nurse if she had any rebus pictures. We use those in the structured learning center for non verbal students. The students will point to the choices they want. The nurse had three papers, she couldn't find the laminated ones. Bruce shook his head no to the I Want... paper, no to the I Feel paper. He settled on the keyboard  paper. I would slowly move my finger on the line. He picked the letters B and L. We couldn't figure out what he wanted. It is very frustrating.

     At lunch I took a walk and followed the red signs of the 'trinity'. The path goes all around the hospital complex. I huffed and puffed my way around one time. 

   This is the rooftop garden, I ate my pb and j and sandwich here. The respiratory lady said we might be able to bring Bruce here tomorrow if he can sit up. 

     Connie and Verl Long dropped by. They are on their way home from Hawaii. They were up all night, jet lag.

    Brooke Thompson stops in between delivering babies. He is always so happy and positive. He is nice to have around.

   There are 20 rooms in this ICU section, 4 are empty. Beds come and go all the time. It is a somber place.

    There is a group of bikers in the waiting room. Should I get my picture taken with them? They are a rough looking group.

    Yes they do brush his teeth and it has a suction on it for spit that gets caught in his throat. Grandpa K is very meticulous about his oral hygiene.

  

     He gets a bath every other day. " To me he doth not stinketh." A quote from a Book of Mormon story about a queen who thought her husband was still alive after he lay comatose for three days. Everyone else said he smelled like death.

    Just before I left this evening, the nice respiratory lady, Martha  was ready to try the next step with Grandpa K, they have an oxygen warm mist sprayer. Grandpa wanted nothing to do with that. He shook his head no. He had done the c pap for five hours and he was tired. They gave him an injection for pain. I think he wanted to just sleep. 

Baby steps.