Hip Hip Horray!

Greg's room was short a few machines today! Well, today was the day - Greg had the vent pulled and he did awesome! His blood gas tests (oxygen & CO2) came back normal and he was pulled from the vent this afternoon. At this moment he is on 6L of oxygen via a nasal cannula per procedure and that will slowly be lowered until he comes off oxygen totally and only needs room air. He was sitting up in a chair a couple of times today and watched both the Cubs and Packers win. It was so great to see him smiling so much and although his voice is a very soft whisper (due to it being sore from the breathing tube), it was like music to my ears. It is also a lot easier to read his lips then understand hand gestures!Dr. Love stated that tomorrow Greg will be moving out of the ICU and into a normal room to continue his recovery and care. After that, he will move into a hotel in the area (which I am at now) for a week so that he is close enough to the hospital but living on his own. That will be a testing period to make sure all the prescriptions are good and Greg is comfortable with taking his own care into his own hands.
So, now we have the following to get rid of: 5 chest tubs, a handful of IV lines, a neck line, and catheter. Little by little the tubes are going away and soon enough he will be sprinting out of the hospital.
Now it is off to sleep land for me as tomorrow Greg will be walking for the first time in 4 days.
My apologies on the post being so late - I drove home to Milwaukee (1.5 hours away) to gather some items we forgot, get some things for Greg, and check in with my neighbor. I am sure you all understand. (smile)
God Bless!