March 24, 2024

Happy snowy day! I don’t have much to report since I spent most of the day at home – had I realized that the snow wouldn’t start sticking to the roads until this evening, I would have stayed longer. I brought Eli and Anna to the hospital once everyone was awake and dressed this morning to maximize my time there today. I knew I wasn’t going to stay long because I am such an anxious driver – especially when it comes to driving in the snow. However, after 39 days, I was finally able to hold David again. He immediately relaxed and passed out. Eventually though, he had a cough, and with his coughs he’s been bradycardic (drops his heart rate). He tends to recover quickly, but between that and going through withdrawal, it was time to put him back into bed for some meds and OT would be coming in half an hour. We got him situated, suctioned out the mucus he has trouble moving, set up his mobile, and he quickly fell asleep. 

He did fairly well for OT, but during this time is when I had decided to head home to beat the storm. Adam spent the rest of the day with David. They watched the Buffs game – the Buffs tried to come back but fell just short. Adam was slated to hold him, but it ended up being delayed as David’s oxygen saturations trending lower for a bit. They did get their snuggle time in this afternoon though. 

Otherwise, David did not have many big changes today. They weaned his last IV sedation med a bit more today, and also went down on his ventilator – back to a PEEP of 8. His Lovenox (blood thinner medication) is being held for his wound vac change tomorrow. It seemed odd to hold it for just that change, but no one is quite sure what else they have planned. I know yesterday in rounds there was some mention of removing his pacing wires, but that makes us very nervous. David has been paced for the last several days, and only today had the pacer turned off, but still ready to be plugged in at a moments notice. I guess, we usually use the atrium wires, so maybe they are going to remove the ventricular wires – I’m not sure, but we’ll find out tomorrow. 

As for Eli and Anna, when we arrived at the hospital, things were not open yet, and we’re still not ready for them to be in David’s room (there’s not much space for them either). So, they went to the lounge to do some crafts we grabbed for them during super hero day. After completing their crafts, getting some tattoos, and eating snack, they went outside to play for a bit until they got cold. At that point, the Endzone was open, so they went there for the remainder of the time until I took them home for lunch. Then they had plenty of playtime at home for the afternoon and finished the day helping me clear the driveway (for a first pass). We’ll have to take the drive nice and slow tomorrow as the snow we haven’t had all winter seems to be coming now.