A few short follow-ups to today's earlier postings, relayed from Ginny and Lisa:
Since coming out of the successful surgery this morning (see Lisa's earlier post for details), Joe has been resting comfortably. As expected, he's been relatively quiet and inactive -- still mildly sedated and medicated to stay ahead of any post-surgical pain.
One development that we hadn't mentioned before is that the staff has been weaning him off the ventilator slowly over the last few days, usually on a 4 hours on/1 hour off rotation. Another good sign of progress, according to the pros.
Gin and the others are happy that they've been given the OK to bring Joe's glasses to him, so that they can prop them onto his face, as he tries to see more clearly out of his left eye. And, the nurses and therapists are having him use a yes/no board for easier communication -- when the family or staff asks him questions, he can point to yes or no to respond.
Despite all this remarkable progress, the staff cautions the family that Joe is still in critical condition, and infection remains a serious threat (as Joe the microbiologist would be the first to confirm). Therefore, he can't yet have any visitors other than family, and even they have only limited access. For those of you in the area who want to visit, Ginny thanks you, and reminds you that you should come to the ICU waiting area on the GROUND FLOOR to meet with her and the rest of the family.
I think that's it for now -- if I've misstated or forgotten something, I hope Stephen or Lisa or someone will post corrections or additions later.
As always, our love and thanks to all. Charge on.
mark
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Thanks for the update Mark. You are all doing such a great job of communicating Joe's miraculous progress. As always, more prayers on the way. I just spoke with friend Nancy from Westerville. She, too, is sending prayers.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to hear of Dr. Leahy's progress!
ReplyDelete