July 15, 2009

Gene continues to make good progress.

His C-PAP pressure was lowered again today to a 7. Once again it will be increased to a 12 for night time restfulness. He also is getting some supplemental oxygen through the C-PAP. The respiratory team says that he is making very good progress and is ahead of where they thought he would be at this time.

Today was a busy day. He increased his sitting up time by 3 minutes for a total of 13 minutes. They lowered the bed and had him sit on the side of it with his feet on the floor. Gene indicated that he could feel his feet on the floor. He also had visits from the physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and wound specialist.

The family is very concerned about the pressure sore on his lower back. The wound care specialist indicates that it has not gotten any worse, but that his body is not really strong enough to give the resources to its healing. Of course it was there when he arrived at Kindred. Emily is extremely concerned and is making sure to let the care givers know how important the family thinks it is to give it the attention it needs.

Emily and Joyce and Alan attended a team care meeting today that involved someone from each aspect of his care and overall felt very positive about the reports.

Prayer requests:
Please pray for the pressure sore on Gene's lower back to begin to heal, for him to continue to tolerate the decrease of respiratory pressure support, and for his swallowing reflex to continue growing stronger. Pray for strength and movement to return to his body especially in his arms, hands, and fingers. Pray for both Emily and Gene to have the patience, courage, and strength to negotiate these next days and weeks. Pray for Emily and Gene's little dog Mollie, as she is becoming very weak and her health seems to be rapidly failing.