BREATHING ON HIS OWN

The ventilator was removed yesterday evening. Ron is breathing very well on his own. He was very happy to have this removed. I had entered a blog last night but I must not have saved it and somehow was deleted. He had a good night. He spoke to everyone from time to time...but kept going back to sleep. He said he felt like a train wreck. He looks great though. His cheeks are nice and pink. The doctors came in and used their portable echo machine to get an idea of what his heart is doing. He is at 60% function right now. Pretty darn close to normal.
He is on antibiotics to keep any possible infections at bay...given the two incisions that had to be done on each leg where the tubing was placed for the heart/lung machine. Also, they have not repaired his sternum yet. They were waiting to give him some time.

He has slept most of today. He was just really wiped out. He woke up early this morning with a slight fever. It worried me some ..but as I have come accustomed to do...is give it to God...pray about it and let him handle it. The fever came down and he just rested the remainder of the day.
He was very alert this evening after his long siesta today. He asked me a lot of questions as to how long he has been here. He does not remember anything of the weeks' events. He wanted me to explain to him what an ECMO machine was and how long he was on it. He does not remember anything after his first incident when he came out of surgery and he does not remember us celebrating Christmas. He thought he had missed Christmas. He does not remember the interview we did with the newspaper reporter. I don't know if this is temporary or if this has anything to do with how long he had been down after cardiac arrest. Only time will tell. He does not remember talking to me on the phone the half hour before going into cardiac arrest.
He keeps asking questions throughout the night. He said it is really bothering him that he cannot remember anything. I told him just to give it time. He has had a very rough week...it will just take time. He is being fed through a feeding tube right now...they plan to do a swallow test on Monday to make sure he can start drinking and eating on his own. I look forward to seeing his progress in the days to come. He asked the nurse to sit him upright so as to feel he was sitting in a chair this evening. I thought that was a really good sign.
Blessings to everyone. I was happy with our day. Ron is still with us. How great ....how great ....is our GOD!...We all have seen....how great is our GOD!