GR8 Progress!

Today Michael's brother, Yaakov, took the morning shift while I caught up on some errands and went for a much needed visit to my mother (who has 24 hour care and is on hospice care).
1.Michael sat up in the cardiac chair. 2. He stood up three times with the help of 2 people. 3. He was able to tolerate 20 minutes of room air (no 02 into the Trach). 4. His trach was downsized and capped so he could speak. His first word to his brother was "hello". The first sounds I heard were yelps of pain. His first words while I was with him were "thank you". When his Trach is capped he can speak. It will be uncapped at night so he can breath more easily. Tomorrow it will be capped again so he can speak.
We talked about what he experienced while in the ICU and what he remembers of being at Rose Medical Center (RMC). He admits the drugs made him hallucinate and clouded his memory. He told he that he knows what he wants for his birthday, a new watch. I asked why he needed a new watch? He said because his watch was smashed and put up on the walls of the ICU. I said that I took it home and it is just fine. One of his hallucinations was that he no longer had feet/legs, they had turned into blue umbrellas. He has bright blue boots which protect his heels. He thought they were umbrellas! He figured he couldn't move because his legs were gone! How horrifying. No wonder he was so frightened. I could see from the look in his eyes in the ICU that he was terrified. I tried to tell him that he was getting better and that he was in the best ICU in the country for lung problems. He doesn't remember any of that. He has no recollection of his time at RMC at all. The only thing his does remember about RMC, was one of his guests and drinking Mucomyst (it smells and tastes like rotten eggs-it is taken before a test to protect the kidneys). Taste and smell can be very powerful memory enhancers.
He still has his sense of humor, the nurse asked, "where do you want your insulin shot?" His reply, "YOUR arm". We all laughed.
If you are wondering how his mental faculties are, he did the word Jumble in the Denver Post today! I needed help with it.
He was disappointed at missing Passover. I told him not to worry, we will have a Seder when he gets well.
He asked for a computer and he said he would try to write a few emails tomorrow.
The doctors' goals for the week are to convert to a nasal cannula and cap his Trach.
He says he wants to go home by the end of the week. I asked what will he do about stairs in the house. He said that he will be doing stairs by the end of the week. I hope so, but I believe he still needs to be able to sit before he can walk and before he can go up stairs! I know he is motivated and he often surpasses the goals set by the physicians. Go Big Mike!