Riding a Roller Coaster

Alyssa described this as a roller coaster and I will have to agree that
is an accurate assessment.  It seems that for every step forward there
are one (or two!) steps back.

With all of the blood pressure medicines out of Gary's body (and there
were actually 4 altogether), his blood pressure is now maintaining a
normal number.  However, sitting up or standing up can cause wild shifts
in his blood pressure.  I was thrilled Monday that a PT came who had
seen Gary in ICU.  She saw how he had gone from being active and moving
to being bedridden.  She experimented with sitting him up and letting
him get dizzy to the point of almost fainting and then laying him down.
After taking his blood pressure several times, she was able to prove
that his bp was falling drastically and then taking a long while to
build back up.  It just helped reinforce what I'd been trying to say all
along.  HE DOESN'T NEED BP MEDS.

So, as of tonight (Tuesday) he is off of bp medicine, insulin and he had
his last dose of steroids and antibiotic for the pneumonia. I believe he
is no longer getting any breathing treatments either.

As I asked you to pray this morning though, Gary had to have a special
tube put directly into his stomach for feeding.  The advantages are that
he doesn't have a tube down his nose and throat, so he can work on his
speech and swallowing therapy more effectively.  He can also be moved
onto the rehab floor to begin gaining back his balance and strength in
his legs.  It turns out there was an unexpected advantage...Gary had a
moderate-sized ulcer in the top of his small intestine.  As the Dr. said
when he came out to see me after the 5 minute surgery, "We found a
surprise in there."  (As an aside, I want you to know that he said this
as he hands me pictures of Gary's stomach with the tube in place and of
the ulcer, as if he assumed I really wanted them.)  The ulcer could have
been caused by stress from the last two weeks, the large amounts of
Advil they gave him since he can't take other pain medications AND the
steroids that they had to give him to bring down the swelling of the
brain.  I have come to the conclusion that Gary is just not ever meant
to take medication.

It was a long day for Gary.  He couldn't be fed until 6:00 and due to
some incompetence in the nursing staff (truly the first time that has
happened), it was 8:00.  By 9:00, he was shaking his head at Sandy and I
as we laughed ourselves silly; by 9:30, he was sitting up in bed and
starting his speech therapy exercises for the first time since Sat. He
was chewing ice, dutifully sucking it out and not swallowing the water. 
He gave me a DIRTY LOOK when I tried to make him do a higher falsetto e
sound. AND he said that he only saw one of me standing by him, so his
near vision is improving.  Yay!

I'll be honest, it was hard to leave tonight.  He looked so good and
healthy AND there is that little bit of fear about whether there is
another drop on this roller coaster.  I'm just trusting the Lord that
all will continue to improve at this point.

Wednesday or Thursday, Gary will move to the rehab floor of the
hospital.  If you come to visit, you may want to text me or Gary to see
where he's "living" at the moment.  Or ask the 3rd floor nurses where he
has been moved.

I hope that we're coming to an end of these emails.   I'll keep you
updated on his progress.  Thanks so much for your faithful prayers for Gary.
Kay