August 17 - Day 64

Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. -Acts 28:25

A lesson of faith we can all learn from the Apostle Paul in the midst of a raging storm the Lord spoke to him that His purposes would be fulfilled and none would be lost. Indeed, it was just as the Lord spoke, the waters washed them to shore upon an unknown land, not one soul was lost, and Paul would eventually be brought before Caesar. I read over and over in the Bible this reassuring phrase: "it came to pass." In fact, I found this phrase to be in the Bible 463 times! Take comfort in knowing that God fulfills His Word! 
 
This morning the Respiratory Therapist changed Dean's trach from a size 8 with a cuff to a size 6 cuffless. I watched as he pulled it out of Dean's throat and inserted the smaller one. The doctor came afterwards and showed me how well Dean is doing breathing and soon he will remove Dean's trach all together. During speech therapy they placed a speaking valve over his trach which allows him to inhale through his trach and exhale through his nose and mouth. This valve will allow him to use his vocal chords and talk! Throughout the day, I heard him moan and sigh in tones of pain. During Physical Therapy, he was strapped to table that began at a flat position and would tilt until it was vertically straight at 90 degrees. They slowly began to raise him by 10 degree increments. We observed his blood pressure dropping slowly and by 50 degrees after 20 minutes he needed to rest in a flat position. They worked with him tracking objects with both eyes together and independently. We are not sure whether he has double vision and how much vision he has in either eye. He seems to focus on objects when they are directly in front of him. We sat outside for about 20 minutes in the afternoon. Afterwards, he had another therapy session where he sat on the edge of a table in an upright position with the support of the therapist stabilizing his back and holding his head up. One therapist sat in front of him and moved to the side calling out his name to get him to follow her by turning his head. They had to turn his head and at times he showed some initiation of his own. They did this several times and noticed a lot of tone (tightness) in his neck. Around 2:30 pm, they put him back into bed and we took naps. In the evening, his eyes were open so he played with his small football again as he reached and held onto it. Dean continues storming through the nights along with an elevated heart rate. Please continue to pray that his brain would be completely restored so he can regulate his bodily functions again.

 



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