There's nothing but good news today. John got up in the chair yesterday for 1 1/2 hours, today for 3 hours. Yesterday it took 2 people to help him get there; today he did it by himself with an aide to handle all the tubes and wires. Now that he has the trach, he's progressing rapidly in the eating department - liquids yesterday, soft today (which included scrambled eggs for breakfast - he was one very happy man). He's off all the IVs except for some remaining antibiotics. The trach is healing well - not yet to the point of rigging him up to talk - but he's back to texting, so we can communicate when I'm not there.
The plan is to transfer him to RiverCrest in Mishawaka - it's an L-TACH (long-term acute care hospital) - for weaning off the ventilator and boot camp rehab. He's looking forward to it & ready to get to work. It's possible that he'll go tomorrow, but Monday is more likely. He feels good enough to be impatient to be up and around.
Most of the medical crew is floored by his recovery. Those of us that have known him for a while - his cardiologist, pulmonologist, and me - aren't floored but are relieved. I'm finally relaxing some. The dog is less depressed by Daddy's absence - two days ago I packed up John's house slippers and razor to take to him; Jethro watched, his eyes lit up and his ears stood up, and I could see his furry mind figuring out that Daddy must be okay and out there somewhere.
John has a lot of work to do; he's done rehab before, and is looking forward to it. I have a lot of work to do; I haven't managed the finances or done taxes in a while, and I'm not actually dreading it. And someday I'll vacuum and clean the bathrooms . . .
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