Monday Update For Ben

Ben's vitals were good today, except while they had him on the breathing trial, his heart rate was up some. He had no fever. They started him on the breathing trial at 8:00 AM and he was on it for 5 hours today. Ben was responsive , nodding and squeezing my hand. The nurse told me the sore on his bottom is much better. They still have him on lasix the diuretic and they still are giving him the Fibersource through a tube. ICU doctor said Ben will be there for at least 2 to 3 more weeks. The surgeon came in today and checked his belly and said he seems to be doing better. He shook his head no when asked if he had any pain. His INR went up a little bit from yesterday to 1.75 and it still needs to be down to 1.1 before they can do the trach and remove fluid from his belly. I had to go over to the records office this afternoon and to the cashier to get Ben's letter that he has reached his "out of pocket" for the year. When I got back, they had taken him off of the breathing trial and he had gone to sleep, so I left to come home. I sure am getting to know all the nurses in ICU.