05.24.2008 - Sunshine Returns

From Julian's COTA journal.

Julian is by no means out of the woods, but today was a big day in terms of recovery. Very lucid, talking - sun shining, so to speak. And on top of that, the lung issue seems to be resolving - less coughing - and we've been able to cut way back on his pain meds. Good signs.

The Docs are still happy with his progress, and if they're happy, we're happy. At least tonight he's sleeping soundly.

Well, he was, until we determined that his feeding tube (which is fed through the nose) was blocked while he slept. That was around 11 pm. As we're standing around figuring this out, Julian started talking in his sleep - talked himself right awake. It was very cute, except that when he realized we (two nurses, one doctor and me) were all standing around watching him, he panicked, actually stood up in his bed, leaning on me for support.

Once he calmed down, he was fine, but wide awake. So we decided to get his vitals, weigh him, change his bedding - and remove & replace the feeding tube. Everything was fine until we got to the last step.

The good news is it only took us three attempts.

And now at last he's sound asleep. First time for him (or me) since the surgery.