Greg Covid - Day 12

 I spoke with Greg's nurse and doctor around 11:30 this morning.  The nurse didn't tell me too much, but said the doctor wanted to talk to me and the doctor was right there.  So of course, I'd rather talk to the doctor!  

Basically, he is doing quite stable from overnight to today.  He is on 60% oxygen and had no major fevers overnight, but his temp is still hanging right above 100.  He is still requiring the support on the vent, which requires sedation.  They tried to wind down the sedation today, but he was not very comfortable and was breathing fast on the vent, so they had to turn it back up.   They will try again tomorrow.   

With regard to the IVIG, they are going to contact his immunologist on Monday.  If there is no contraindication, they will restart it.  He is being given steroids to decrease his immune response and Covid in the later phase is a hyper-immune state, so we are trying to suppress the immunities here and protect the lungs.  "We don’t know what’s the benefit and harm because of the lack of research" which is why they want to speak with the immunologist.  This makes sense to me, so I don't mind waiting to see what the immunologist thinks.  If this is something that could help Greg, maybe it's also something that could help other people?    

In terms of delirium, he is not agitated today, which is good.  We will continue what we are doing and try to avoid any other complications being on the vent.  They did repeat cultures of his sputum to ensure there is no infection of the breathing tube.  Greg is already on Vancomycin, so he’s on good coverage.   He will call if anything changes, but Greg is pretty stable. 

So, it was a good night and a good day so far.  I plan on calling again after their 7 p.m. shift change, so probably around 8:30 or so.   I know they will call me if anything starts getting worse, so I'm pretty comfortable with things right now.  

I spent the day getting a lot of work done around the house.  First was a trip to the dump with this week's garbage, and some extra stuff that needed to be gone.  When I came home, I decided that while it was still nice outside, I'd get some outside work done and spent about 4-5 hours working out there.  Mom came over and washed the dishes that I had, which wasn't much, but still needed to get done.  I cleaned up the deck and got it ready for winter, putting the table umbrella away in the garage, tipping the table on it's side and moving it close to the garage, putting stuff away in the deck box, moving and covering Greg's grill and generally just cleaning stuff up and putting stuff away for winter.  I also cleaned a bunch of stuff up in the garage and did some work in the chicken coop, adding fresh bedding and scraping down their roosts, etc.  I also got some other stuff put away in mom's shed and took the trailer for the lawn mower and put it away for the winter behind mom's shed, under some heavy plastic.  

While I was working outside, our neighbors, Mike and Sue came over, having just found out what was happening with Greg, and asked if I needed any help with anything, which was very sweet.  Erica and Robby stopped over as well, which was nice, too. 

Erica also went to the store and bought a boatload of stuff from her, Robby, Abby, Aaron and Rachel to take to the nurses in the Covid ICU.  She got them things like Powerade, trail mix, hair ties, hand lotion, gum, mints, candy, chips, popcorn, hot cocoa packets, etc. and included a card thanking them for everything they're doing.  Seeing as she delivered that today, I probably will wait until later in the week to bring another box of goodies for them.  We really want them to know how much we appreciate everything they are doing, not just for Greg, but for all their patients!  They deserve it, and so much more!  

I've got dinner cooking right now, and it's actually the first real meal that I've cooked since Greg was admitted.  I just haven't been very hungry, and did not want to cook any sort of normal meal.  I made a stuffed chicken breast that I got at Tower Chicken in Milwaukee last year, (Greg is not a huge fan of them), and an acorn squash that I bought before Kris and Mike gave me a bunch of spaghetti squash and a baked potato.  Should be a nice meal.  I'm saving the steaks that are in the freezer for when Greg comes home, because he loves a nice thick medium rare steak more than anything!  

Please continue your prayers for Greg.  While he's doing well, we really need to see some improvements start happening.  I know, I know.  Baby steps.  But at least one baby step forward is something I really need to hear!  

Today's picture of Greg is another "selfie" that he took in the elevator at the Royal on the Park hotel we stayed at in Brisbane!  He's such a goof!   (Helpful hint:  click on the picture to see a bigger version!)

Take care, everyone.  Love, Peace and Prayers, 

Julie