Neal is in the house

Well some folks saw Neal's sense of humor today and some saw him agitated, but it is him. He is completely off the ventilator and doing fine. He has quite a bit of mucous that needs to be suctioned from his lungs, but otherwise he is doing ok. Last night when his Aunt, Uncle and cousins visited he wrote on the dry erase board what had happened asking if they had heard, so he does now know why he is in the hospital. Today he had quite a bit of anxiety from what I hear and I would assume knowing why he is in the hospital is doing it. Because of his anxiety he received some drugs, therefore he was pretty sleepy. He cracked some jokes with others and pretty much yelled as much as he can at my sister and I! I could not be happier to see it. Imagine how dry your mouth would be without water, I do not blame him for wanting the spongy things on a stick (in proper medical terms).

His blood pressure is low again, not as low as last week but the top number is in the 90s. I think it is related to the amount of fluid he is getting taken off in dialysis. They are planning to get him out of ICU as soon as a bed becomes available. The nurses planned to get some tubes removed from him tonight after my sister and I left. He was so anxious to get the tubes out that he told us to go away! I am ok with that if he is happy. I am taking all card and letters up for him to see. Not much else to report, so I guess that is good.

I bought the nurses some Cheryl's cookies and immediately got better attention, sad but true. I will bribe all I can to get him the best care. Today he was watching Animal Planet and yesterday Lifetime.....hmmmmm I am beginning to wonder what the nurses are doing in there! Now don't get me wrong, we have watched Animal Planet once in a while, but Lifetime, are you kidding me. I left the channel for the Indians game on tonight, I hope it stays on and he stays awake to watch a little.

I am not sure where he will be tomorrow, but anyone that is healthy and wants to see Neal is more than welcome. He still has quite a bit of tubes sticking out of him. I will always have a dry erase board in the room if he chooses to write As I have warned others, he is currently infatuated with the time. So that may be the first thing he asks. I am a horrible lip reader (Denise I need you) so if you have problems, ask him if he wants to write. I still have not talked to ear, nose and throat, so I am unsure when he will be able to talk. First he will have to pass a swallowing test so that he can drink. Currently Neal has a feeding tube.

If anyone has any recommendations for home nurses, I am all ears. Thanks again for everyones help, cards, posts and calls. It is times like this when you realize how lucky you are for your friends and family are and how great of a guy Neal is. I would be happy if I had half the amount of people interested in me! Times like these make you realize what is really important in life.

Update: Neal is being moved to 1007a Doan tonight. For any visitors, ask if he needs suction when you get there and if he does call the nurse. I appreciate everyones help. I am excited to see him in the morning. I do not think I gave enough thanks to Suzy and her family for providing me with lunch and dinner for the week. I greatly appreciate it!