OPEN...OPEN....OPEN YOUR EYES

If you have ever seen the movie Steel Magnolias perhaps you recall that scene where Sally Field, the mother, is trying to get Julia Roberts, the daughter to wake up from a coma. She never does. As you all know I have wanted to see Ken's eyes and some kind of response - I did!!!! -Thursday. The nurse turned off the sedation and the hiccups did not return -PRAISE GOD - so she left if off longer and longer and then there they were - those brown eyes. There was no excitement in them though, only a look of confusion and worry. I tried to reassure him he was OK but he just stared at me. I knew he was not thrilled at all to still be on the ventilator, he kept trying to push the tube out with his tongue. He tried to answer questions by blinking his eyes but sometimes I could not determine his answer since he was still somewhat drowsy. He could not move his limbs which was also a source of frustration. I am not sure what was going through his mind when a lot of the medical staff came running to his room when word spread he was awake. One of the P.T.'s he had worked with before the surgery knew what the "real" Ken was like and she was devastated by what had happened. She was suppose to pick Ken up on Sunday to take him to church with her - he had told me about this on Thursday after he had gone to rehab - he was so excited. She came to workout Ken's joints yesterday morning before he came to and she kept telling the nurse what a character he was and how they had just talked and talked or maybe it was he had talked and talked - oh, and that Thursday was the only time she had worked with him. When word went down the hall he was awake she came running into the room so excited. Every time I looked up there was someone else looking in and smiling or giving me a thumbs up - guess you could say there was a party on 6-W again.

I stayed late last night and when I left he still looked lost. He had some problems with his oxygen again last night when they were cleaning him up. They had to go up on his oxygen level and put him back on the meds for his blood pressure to keep it up. He only slept a couple of hours the nurse said.

Today he is more coherent than yesterday and he has been able to answer questions better with his eyes and has even tried to nod his head a little. He's hands are still swollen but he has been able to move them some. I have explained some of what has gone on and keep telling him he is getting better - all of the steps are moving forward. Some doctors are in his room right now looking at the heart to see if there is a problem with blood flowing between the sections before being oxygenated in the lungs. One of the doctors also talked to me about the possibility of them putting in a trech on Monday. It will be easier to get him off the oxygen plus will add a level of comfort to him. We will see what the findings are from this procedure they are doing now.