April 24 8:00 pm

Good Evening, Hope everyone has had a good day. Neil has had one of those "boring" restful days. I always think of these as a day of healing. Last night his heart rate, blood pressure and breathing were all elevated. During the night he had a temperature of 101.3 but it returned to normal later. The infectious disease doctor is doing cultures on everything to be sure this is not the beginning of anything. During the day, Neil's temp went to 100 but returned to normal. The pain management person came by and discussed changing medications as the doctor thinks the elevated heart rate, blood pressure and breathing might be due to the length of time Neil has been on all of the medications. Tonight he will start on Oxycontin at 9 pm and the dose is for 12 hours. She will check on Neil in the morning to determine if the level was managing his pain. She states this drug will not cause the drowsiness he experiences with the other medications. He will be able to have Oxycontin IR (Immediate Relief) every 4 hours for break through pain. We are very optimistic this might provide the pain relief without the other issues. I did not tell you they discontinued the TPN. Now Neil is still getting the tube feeding, but is also eating. His appetite is not robust but he gets an A for effort. Tonight he had several bites of potatoes, green beans and fried chicken. He even took a bite of sweet potato pie. The wound care folks changed the abdomen dressing and the doctor came by to look. He was very pleased with the progress. He said he still needs more time before he will close this wound. The goal is for there to be good tissue growth all over the wound. Last night as Neil was having a bit of a difficult time the respiratory therapist came by and suggested he go back to the trach collar. Neil resisted this for about an hour but then decided it would be the thing to do. He coughed for a period of time and there was a lot of secretions. The respiratory therapist is consulting with the doctor. It seems tomorrow they may cap the trach for 3-4 hours and then go back to the trach collar for a similar amount of time. Please pray for Neil's lungs, leg and his breathing on the trach collar.

Sue's son in law came by and said she was doing well. We are so very pleased. Please keep her recovery in your prayers. Nelson's brother said Nelson has had a good day. He is more and more alert. What a blessing. Shannon's mother said Shannon is doing well on the Bi-Pap. The doctor is discussing the possibility of moving her to a room. Shannon is more alert on some visits. When the doctor said this about moving her, Shannon gave him the thumbs up. Wow, Shannon is a miracle and we are so pleased. The sad news is Daisy has had to return to Baptist from Health South as she has pneumonia. Please keep her and her sweet friends in your prayers.

Please pray for the full recovery of David Bandstra. We are sending our love and prayers to him and to Vicki.

Thank you so very much for your love and support. Each of you have blessed us.