Friday Night’s Visitor

Last night Al was awake, restless/agitated when the visitor came to see him. “Do you know who I am?" she asked. He nodded his head "yes" and smiled. When his nurse came in she said "Al, do you know this lady?" Again, he gave a BIG nod and smiled. The nurse’s reaction was "I've never seen him respond so strongly! This is great!" She said the amount of progress Al has made in such a short span of time is nothing short of a miracle.

On to the medical stuff... pressure remains stable, based on his clinical signs (what they are able to observe of his condition); CT scans are routinely being done to verify no negative changes before clinically apparent (if there is a significant downward change, he will immediately have another CT scan, with appropriate action taken); the MRI showed no further fractures; his cervical spine is intact... a miracle in itself; he does NOT have a tracheostomy... nurse said they were ready to do the procedure today... the tools remain in his room, ready should they be needed... team decided to give him another day on minimum assist on the ventilator... the plan is to extubate him tomorrow... if he is able to breathe on his own, he'll do just that... if he is not able, that is when he will be trached... in terms of the pneumonia, his temp spikes, breaks, spikes, breaks... pneumonia in patients in Al's circumstance is a common occurrence and they are fighting it aggressively... Al does have a feeding tube... the nutrition he is receiving is a mixed blessing... his glucose levels (elevated partially due to the nutrition he is receiving) are causing him to need 18 or more units of insulin per hour... this is quite a high dosage.... hopefully, as his condition becomes more stable, so will his glucose levels... one day at a time...

The visitor left encouraged. Encouraged by his progress, by his will to live, by his smiles, nods, hand squeezes... but most of all, by a GOD, our GOD, who is using our friend as a living testimony to HIS sovereignty. The staff again tonight said how encouraged THEY are by the amazing, MIRACULOUS progress Al has made and continues to make. Our God is an AWESOME God!!!