Hi, everyone,
I am at the hospital this morning. Bill's condition is basically status quo for the last couple of days. His cardiologist, Dr. Sachdea (I can't get over how young he is! He must be at least in his early 30's but he looks as if he is 19), says that the priority now is to get Bill off the ventilator and to stabilize his kidney functions.
Josh's friend Steve came to visit. He is reading a book to Bill (The last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper) and Bill seems to really like it. Visitors can take turn reading it. Please feel free to bring books that you think Bill may enjoy. Thank you Josh for letting Steve know.
As of 1.15p, his respiratory therapist took him off ventilator to test his ability to breathe on his own. Yesterday he did this for 30 minutes. Today the goal is an hour.
His scleroderma has wrecked a havoc on his left finger tips. He has huge dark blisters in all his fingers except thumb. They look as if from horror films. There were some concerns that Bill may lose his finger tips. His rheumatologist called a hand surgeon to see if an injection to numb the nerves to the finger tips would help. The hand surgeon rejected this idea and they are back to just keeping his hands/fingers warm with warm compresses. They do not want to pop the blisters since doing so might cause infections.
I will leave around 2.30pm to relieve my nanny. I will have the kids the rest of the afternoon and the evening. His colleague Debby will come by soon as is Abigail. Abigail has been terrific and her presence comforts Bill.
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