Friday, 11:15 am

John has made some improvement, which is great. He is still having a hard time with some of the breathing but they have switched him back to a regular oxygen mask rather than the Bi-Pap, which is good. They actually got him up and walking a little bit this morning as that is critical for him to do and may in fact help with the breathing. They still don't know what caused the breathing issues, but they are going to do a swallow study to see if he is able to swallow well enough and correctly without aspirating. They think there is a chance that he aspirated some fluid, maybe even saliva, and it contributed to the problem. A nutrionist/therapist is supposed to do that today, and then they will figure out how to get him some nutrients. The ultrasound they did last night on his legs did not show any kinds of clots, so that was very good news as a blood clot to the lungs was a possible cause for the breathing problems. He is exhausted, but doing better. They are likely going to pull the chest tube today and see if that helps with his breathing, and they are making progress with the medicines and getting his new heart transitioned. Still an awful lot to overcome but each of these little steps are in the right direction. All of this information came from Zach, Tad, and Josh who saw John this morning and really tried to get the most up to date information from the nurse. We don't see the doctors on any kind of regular basis, and I have lost track of how many different doctors there are who are on his case. They see John a lot and I am convinced are making the right decisions, it's just that the way the ICU setup is we often don't get to see the doctors directly. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and tired, and didn't want John to get the impression from me that things weren't going well, so I did not go back and see him. The guys are perfectly capable of keeping up with him for this morning, and it gives them all a chance to see him if only for a few minutes every few hours. I came back to the hotel to do some laundry and shower. Two showers in two days may be a bit much for my system to handle, though!

Hopefully he will be out of ICU very soon since he is making the kind of progress he needs to in order to move to the step down room. They are much quieter but still well monitored, so that will be great when it can happen.

Keep the prayers coming, you guys are a wonderful support to me and to him. As soon as John is able I will share with him your comments, cards, prayers and good wishes. I have told him some, but have a feeling he won't remember those. It will be really nice when he can speak better and breathe better, and will be that much closer to getting to come home.