Day 15 - Evening

It was so nice to see Jake get a lot of rest today. I think they have figured out the right mix of constant drip meds and longer lasting pain medications. They are continuing to slowly cut back the drip and he's not so miserable between doses of the Oxycodone. He can't leave ICU on the pain drips so they need to get him completely off those.

We moved rooms today which was unexpected. I didn't think we would change rooms until we moved out of ICU but they have a construction project starting on one half of the unit that would have been quite disruptive. They moved us to a room at the end of the hall which is nice and quiet plus we now have a view of the mountains. I spent most of the afternoon rehanging cards and banners and enjoyed re-reading all of them.

Assuming all goes smoothly this evening, the plan is to remove the breathing tube again tomorrow. He's been on steriods for the past few days to help the swelling in his throat, he is able to swallow around the current tube, and his pain meds are more stable. It's the only change we are going to attempt tomorrow. Looking back, there were probably too many changes made on Thursday and it was just too much for him to handle. We have a good feeling about this time since Jake seems in a better place.

For added security we'd like to request the following prayers:

Successful breathing on his own following the removal of the breathing tube.
Keeping everything else with him stable to give him a chance to adjust to tube removal.
Quick healing of his throat and vocal cords so he can talk to us. (I really miss hearing his voice!)

I will post again tomorrow after tube removal which is supposed to happen midday.