Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Today was a big day for John. He started off by having his first breakfast in 8 weeks. He had barely finished breakfast when the physiotherapist came to do range of motion exercises and breathing exercises. After that he had a session of rescue breathing. For this they took John off the ventilator and he breathes on his own for as long as he can tolerate. This was his first time and he was able to breathe for 2 minutes. This is so if anything happened to his ventilator he would know that he could breathe on his own for a few minutes until help came. The respiratory therapist said it does not mean that he will be coming off the ventilator, but only that he could manage for a few minutes on his own if he had to. We had a few minutes before his lunch came. After this was a family conference with some of the health care staff. This meeting was held in the social worker's office and was the first time John had been out of his room since he got to the Step-down unit. As soon as our meeting was over our friends Patricia and Dietmar came and John got a badly needed hair cut. He had a little rest and then his supper came. After supper my dad and sister came to visit. When we left at 7:30 he was most excited because his evening snack had come it was a peanut butter sandwich which is his very favourite.
Wow John...some amazing thanksgiving news from you! I was house-sitting for a few days and had no internet there, so missed your last two updates. What a joy it must be to be able to eat again...I remember watching my kids when they were babies, and as they learned about their hands and the ability to grasp things I was amazed at the things we do without thinking, and tend to take for granted. We forget that we too at some point had to learn these things before they became second nature to us. I experience this awareness again as you tell about the things that you are gradually able to do again, like breathing, speaking, eating...and I am humbled and in awe yet again at how fragile we humans are, and also how wonderful it is to have this perspective that lets us see what a miracle each of these things is. It's a joy too, to have you share these with us all...sharing in the prayer and praising, and learning total reliance upon our Lord who brings all these miracles about. You are a loving inspiration...you and your family.
ReplyDeleteLove and hugs...and always prayer...Deb and family.
Hi John. I love peanut butter sandwiches too so can imagine how excited you must have been to have that as a bedtime snack! It sounded like boot camp there today with all the things they had you doing. I hope you got a chance to have a little rest. So thankful that you are progressing so quickly in many areas. Glad Laverne is there to share in all of these milestones and to go through the steps with you. I know that God is providing the strength you need each day for all you need to do. Keep up the good work. You are an encouragement to all of us!
ReplyDeleteGoodness:
ReplyDeleteSuch progress. Well done. Thank you Jesus. And thanks for sharing with us.
Peanut butter sandwiches eh???? with sardines? My brother's favourite.