7/29/2006 Day # 6 Post Accident

            You did very well overnight.  You are much more alert, opening your eyes following voices, and following commands.  While Aunt Kathy and I were at your bedside the nurse asked you to stick your tongue out at hi and you did, he also asked you about to squeeze his hand and you did.  You are trying to sit up in bed, pulling at tubes, coughing on your own, wanting your tube out of your nose. Abby came into the room and started talking to you and you opened your eyes and moved your head towards her. 

            You want to keep coming up off the bed like you want to sit up.  You were telling me with your hand that something was wrong on your right side as if you were sitting on something you were wanting removed.  We got you up in a chair tat the bedside.  You were trying to pull on your tube in your room, when I asked you what was wrong your raised your hand and pointed to your nose.  I told you what it was there for and then scratched around it thinking you might have had an itch.  When you heard my voice you opened your eyes and you moved towards me.  It looked as though you were trying to move your moth like you were saying “Mom”.

            When we called Grandpa Short he started to cry and said “This is the day that the Lord has and, rejoice and be glad in it.”  Amen!

Daily Devotional

Picture 1 : Caleb in Trauma Room
Picture 2 : Caleb in Trauma Room

7/29/2006 Days End Report

            Oh my gosh!  What a day you have had.  You “woke up”, came out of the sedative state in typical Caleb Kedigh fashion.  You were agitated, confused, trying to get out of bed most of the day.  You kept trying to pull out the tube in your nose so they put mitts on your hands.  Of you really didn’t like that.  You were getting so worked up.  You would tell me “off”, I would tell you I couldn’t take them off, you would ask “why”, and I would tell you, “Because you are trying to pull your tube out of your nose”.

            I have been telling you, you have been in the Trauma Unit at Vanderbilt, but yesterday I told you, you had been in the Trauma unit for 6 days.  Your eyes got real big and you responded with “What?” , like you couldn’t believe it. Today has been a day of success!

• You “woke up”
• Sat at the side of the bed in a “Neuro” chair
• They reduced & changed your ventilator settings
• Off all sedative medication
• Only on one antibiotic now instead of three.

The plan for the night is to give you good rest, remove your arterial line and start

switching you over from Fentanyl for pain to methadone.  Hopefully the methadone will help your mind be clearer.  They also may trail you on a “trach collar” (remove the ventilator and place oxygen over your trach for you to breathe in and see if you maintain your oxygenation).

            Sleep well, have a restful night, let God hold you in his arms to heal you and we will see you in the morning.  I love you, we love you and you are loved!