Thursday Update For Ben

Ben's eyes were open when I came into his room and he squeezed my hand when I took it. He was still a "little" out of it, but he was a little responsive today. When I got there, his blood pressure was 100/52, his heart rate was 100 and his breathing was 20. He had no fever. Last night they had taken him off of the B/P meds to raise his pressure, but they had to put him back on it. But again this morning after I got there, they took him off of it again. Some of the time, he would just stare off into space, but when I would ask him something, he would nod or "mouth" yes or no. He said he was not in any pain. Ben's limbs are still somewhat puffy. I asked Nick (his nurse) if he was urinating more than he was, and Nick said a little, but not that much. Our social worker Jennifer came in this morning as did Robin the hospital chaplain. Lanny (Ben's brother) came by around 11:00 AM. I was just so happy to see that he was awake this morning. I didn't sleep well because I was so worried about the fact that he had not come out of it when I called his nurse last night. Dr. Rupp (the surgeon) had told us that the first few days after surgery would be the most critical and Ben has seemed to make it through those first few days.