Five Foot-Two and Three-Quarters

Cathy's day has been an eventful one. First, this morning the physical therapist had Cathy get out of the hospital bed and stand for a few moments. Unfortunately I missed this exciting event. Bonnie was here to give Cathy encouragement. Later in the morning the respiratory therapist took Cathy off the ventilator again and put her on the 'cuff' (a device that fits over the trach and supplies Cathy with a moist oxygen and air mixture). This was the same exercise that was performed on Tuesday evening. This time instead of one-hour, the goal was two hours. Cathy made it one-hour and fifty minutes. However, this time the blood gas tests indicated that Cathy's blood CO2 levels were much better than after Tuesday's exercise. Cathy's blood CO2 was 56 after today's exercise, it was in the 70's after Tuesday's exercise. (I do not know the units for these CO2 readings). The resident told me that normal for a healthy person is 30 to 40. Normal for Cathy, because she has limited lung functions to begin with, is in the low 50's. When Cathy was brought into the ICU on June 28th, her blood CO2 levels were approaching 100.

This evening, the goal was to have Cathy get out of bed again and sit in a chair. Cathy was to exhausted to attempt this feat. As a 'plan B', her hospital bed has been adjusted to 'chair' configuration, putting her in a sitting position.

David