Wednesday, March 25

8.37am report: Ok. I just called hospital. All calm. He has been peaceful. Still getting meds. All vitals are solid. She said that’s great especially with the amount of meds he is getting. Do you think we should get a hospital bed at the house for when dad comes home - not sure we need to be on a list - but lets look into it..

11.33am report: Another update from the ICU: dads state remains calm and he seems to be resting peacefully.. His blood pressure has dropped a bit due to the sedation meds - that is something that they expect for any patient on sedation medications… they have included an IV to control that - and that is working….

11.35am report: It’s important to understand that ventilators do not cure COVID-19, but they help support lung function while a patient’s body is fighting the infection.

12.14pm report: Due to Low blood pressure, and Arterial Venus catheter will be inserted to give meds for blood pressure. And might have to do that to give meds. This will stop them from having to keep poking him.

3.45pm report: So I just called in and checked with Janelle - Dads day nurse… She said he is responding well to the central line - the IV that was placed in his neck - they have 3 lines there so everything looks good and its providing good access to getting meds in him. He is remaining stable on the ventilator and all his vitals look steady. On a ventilator, they typically try, each day, to lower the oxygen levels to test what the patient cant handle - they have lowered dads levels down today, slowly of course, and he his maintaining his levels nicely at the lower level. so for now - everything looks good… She did say that Greenwich hospital is becoming very busy with a ton of patients coming in… the ages span from young to old. She assured me that he is in good hands with lots of attention!

and no fevers today - so thats good news too…

7.16pm report: So far no change - he is managing on the lower oxygen level that was set in place today. He is receptive to all the meds, new and preexisting, with the exception of the low blood pressure med. The sedation meds lower your blood pressure - so they needed to remove that one to maintain good levels.. Tomorrow, they will lower oxygen levels again and hope that he can manage on that new level.. They say that typically it might take a patient 4 - 10 days to ween off a ventilator to self-breathing. Of course, every patient is different.

This great nurse is leaving for the night - so if you have any questions -i can call her again right now.

oh - they also started IV with nutrients today - that is a good sign too.

7.47pm report: from family friend and MD George: Sounds that all the supportive measures are appropriate and his progress is appropriate. The fact that tomorrow they expect to lower his oxygen levels is very positive. Thanks for the info

10.52pm report: Things are still going ok - when they move him or adjust his tubes he does react and move around a bit - and tonight he moved and went for his breathing tube… (‘as anyone would’ says the nurse).. So they have upped his sedation meds a bit, which were at a low level and therefore have adjusted his blood pressure medication accordingly. all is stable now and good to know that he was not aggressive or angry - just seemed uncomfortable and wanted to get it out….. He still has not had a fever and that definitely is a good thing.. He will have an X-ray in the am (as he did today) as they do every morning to look for a change in the lung function - there was no change this am - and to assure that the intubation tube is properly placed. He has his complete battery of labs in am (bloodwork and x-rays) and i will chat with the Dr at around 9. Sleep well and lets home for another peaceful evening…..

12.25am report: ok - so i just couldn’t go to bed with any unanswered questions and after looking online into what actually happens to your lungs i needed to call Kristin (dads nurse) back.. i got in touch with her and asked her about the x-ray and specifically how it detects any change in the lungs.. I asked her if the X-rays would tell is if the virus was spreading and was further clogging up the lungs, creating holes and/or filling with fluid. She did mention that the X-ray was definitely used for seeing the virus debris and assuring that the breathing tube is in the correct position. Without the x-ray, if his oxygen needs change and require a boost they would know that the lungs were further being infected. She mentioned that it can take pneumonia weeks to go away so the damage may appear visible for a while… I also asked how we would know if CoronaVIrus was infecting organs outside of the lungs - she did say that his kidney numbers were a bit low and they manage that with fluids and monitoring his urine output. That has since stabilized. all good to know… goodnight.

also.. i am getting an answer tomorrow as to if we are able to send food to the ICU unit….

Dogs are getting used to us being home all the time and want us all to themselves.