Another good morning for Dad. His white blood cell count is going down, his blood pressure and heart rate are at safe levels, and he seems to be relatively comfortable. He still has a slight fever at 38.2 C. His breathing continues to improve, and the PEEP has been lowered to 8.0, which is the lowest that we've seen it so far. His lungs are getting stronger. They are still removing a good amount of secretion from his lungs, but this is hopefully the tail end of the infection.
The primary goals right now are (1) pain control, (2) weaning off the ventilator, and (3) getting rid of the lung infection.
We brought in some music for him. First, I put on Faure's Requiem, which is one of his favorite pieces of music. His heart rate immediately started to decrease, and he raised his eyebrows, smiled, and gave a big thumbs-up. The last piece on this particular recording is the Pie Jesu, which is a soft soprano aria. Because this piece ends so quietly, I had the volume up pretty high. Unfortunately, the next song on the play-list was a bluegrass song, and it came blaring out for a few seconds before we could lower the volume on the iPod. Dad didn't like this very much. So we're on a break from music for a little while, and in the meantime we're going to work on our play-lists.
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Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI've had the same trouble with playlists. Different albums can have very different volumes. I have yet to figure out how to even it out.
Clarifying - wonderful to hear of his improvement.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for all the updates. It is always so heartwarming to hear even the smallest improvement. We love your family so much and have all of you close in our hearts at this time. With love always,
ReplyDeleteRod & Sheri Barbour, and family
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ReplyDeleteKristine,
ReplyDeleteIn iTunes, go to Preferences, Playback, and select Sound Check. That should equalize the song volumes.
We were just advised of the tragic accident of Kathy's and Kent's a couple of days ago by our son-in-law who had received an email from Jared Stone telling of the tragedy. We talked with Pat to express our deepest condolences, but we just received your blog from Christy Valentine and we hasten to also express to Kathy's and Kent's children and family just how saddened we are with what you are going through. Words cannot assuage your sorrow, but we know that prayers will be heard on high, and reading about Kent's progress attests to that. We have just come from the SLC Temple where we put Kent's name on the prayer roll. We're sure others have done the same, and many people will pray over that prayer list with his name on it. Powerful!
ReplyDeleteElder Wells was the General Authority supervising Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay when Kent was on his mission in Argentina, and Elder Wells remembers what a powerful missionary he was and a big help to President Harris.
We knew sweet, angelic Kathy when she was just a girl, and noticed her grow into a beautiful, talented woman. Heaven is sweeter with her bringing her gift of music.
We are most appreciative in knowing about your blog so we can stay informed on Kent's progress and the memorial services for Kathy.
Please know that you and yours are in our prayers, and for Bud and Pat in particular. It's just too hard for children to lose a parent, but so very, very hard for parents to lose a daughter or son. May the Lord's comforting tender mercies attend you all.
Our love to you, Robert and Helen Wells and daughters and sons
Good on you, Daniel, for your music choices: spiritual and soothing, upbeat and fun--nice balance. Another thing that really helped me as I was coming out of my coma was hearing letters from my friends. They wrote long letters with detailed memories of good times we'd had, including sensory descriptions--a crackling campfire, the rope swing followed by a drop into a cold lake, warm meadows filled with wildflowers along the Arnot Creek Trail. And your dad will love to hear your voice as you read.
ReplyDeleteWe love you and pray for you.
Jill Burningham Taylor
Pie Jesu is one of my favorites. I don't think I would like blaring blue grass after that either! :-)
ReplyDeleteGod bless your family Dan...your family is in our prayers out here in Utah.
ReplyDeleteJacob and Anna Fechter