grateful for the good days

Thursday, March 22

Today has been a good day. They gave Duben some extra sedatives to help him sleep, so I was able to stay home and be with the kids and sleep in a real bed. I even got to sleep in a little, which was much needed. Then I rushed back to the hospital and the doctors had some good news. I'm always nervous coming back in the morning, if Duben has a hard time it's usually at night. They said he slept well that night and was doing most of the breathing on his own now. Which is such a relief, since he was breathing really hard and fast yesterday. He got a MRI done tonight, otherwise they probably would have taken out the tube today. They needed it in for the MRI because Duben will be laying down in the machine for at least thirty minutes. When he lays down that's usually when more of the fluid in his lungs come up, so they want to make sure he's comfortable when he got the test. Hopefully first thing in the morning it can come out! I'm so relieved. We were all really nervous yesterday how he was going to do today, I'm glad to see we came out on top! So now we just have to take it easy today and keep relaxing and build back his strength.

Friday, March 23

Was able to sleep at home again last night since Duben's MRI was so late at night. I was pulling into the parking lot when I got a call from his nurse in the ICU. Duben was extubated that morning - yay, but, was struggling breathing a little and wanted to know when I'd be there. I rushed in and he was on the mask again. As I walked in one of the doctors stopped me and said I should let him rest....duh. He smiled when he woke up and saw me, I hadn't seen him be able to smile in a week. His numbers were looking good and about an hour later they took off the mask and put him on the vapotherm (basically its his oxygen in his nose that has a humidifier in it). So glad we could finally talk! It was a long week of not being able to talk with him. It was just so good to see him smile.

A few of his doctors came in and all said they were so glad to see him looking good and smiling. His nurses have been great about keeping us positive and giving us a lot of support.

They were hopeful he could get out of ICU in the next day or so, but they dont want to rush it this time. Hopefully we will start weaning him from IV drugs to pills and get him home in the next two weeks. I get emotional thinking about having him home. Its so hard not being together as a family, Ainsley sure misses her Daddy, and her Daddy sure misses her. I know its hard on him that he hasn't spent time with Anderson too.

The biggest hurdle we have right now is getting his breathing under control. Once he starts coughing its really hard for him to catch his breath, which makes him worried, which continues the cycle of breathing trouble. I'll stay the night again just to help him out during the night. It helps him to have a calming presence....hopefully I can help.

We have a long road ahead of us, but I know we will get through it.

Saturday, March 24

Today was a nice relaxing day. We still aren't able to move out of ICU, he's not quite ready. When he gets his breathing treatments, it causes the gunk in his lungs break up and he coughs, and it takes him a bit to catch him breath. The doctor figured they'd probably wait until Monday, and let him rest for the weekend and have them keep a close eye on him. It was nice to relax and watch a movie and feel somewhat normal again. I stayed the night again, and he did really well.

Sunday, March 25

Another nice relaxing day. Ainsley had been begging to go to church so she could go play with the kids in nursery. She ran in and hugged her teacher today. She loves it. I'm so glad she's doing so well here. She misses her friends and her daddy, but we're so lucky that so many people in the church have reached out and had her over to play. Its been such a great blessing.

My Dad and I went back to visit him and he looked really good. He was able to have a little food, well, gatorade and jello. Some guys from the Elders Quorum came over to visit with him, he really appreciated that. He misses his friends at home. Thank you to everyone who sends us notes and texts, he really appreciates it.

We hope tomorrow we will be able to get out of the ICU. The kids aren't allowed in the ICU, so he hasn't seen them in about 12 days. If he doesn't make it out, the Doctor is going to get the approval for Ainsley to come see him. I know they both are looking forward to it.

Another good day.

We sure need them. This week was hard. Duben and I were talking tonight about how grateful we are to have so many amazing friends. We've been so blessed through all this to have so many people help us along. Im so grateful for the positive emails and texts we've received. The prayers are definitely helping, I know I've needed the extra comfort this week. Thank you all.