(23rd) A.M Visitors...MF,BJ,MC,GH,HS,AS....Great Escape/no ventilator...Workout Video

UPMC Montefiore TICU
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Hospital Count Day: 26

/\/\/\MORNING VISITORS/\/\/\

Monday night was thankfully uneventful. I am continuing to rely less and less on the ventilator and am hopeful to be free o' it soon. This morning I was greeted by several visitors. Mrs. Jefferis, Mrs. Callahan, Brenda, and Gram all came down to see me. I am still conscious enough to respond to my visitors so that makes things a li'l nicer. Ace was excited that they brought breakfast. A whole dozen o' his favorite Dunkin' Donuts.

Don't I look ready for an exciting day?

Ace giving me a morning pep talk.

I don't think he's quite awake yet either.

Nurse Jen making sure everything is ready to go.

A quick breakfast and we're ready to go.

Which one would you choose?

Mom Finnegan checking up on my progress.

This is Brenda's second trip out to see me. I think she's a li'l worried about me. Don't worry Mama B. I'm gonna be just fine.

Mrs. Callahan is so sweet to come be with me.

I think Gram looks a li'l worried about her favorite granddaughter.

But she knows I get my toughness from her, so this will be easy.

Now that I could communicate a li'l bit I had lots to say. I wanted to use sign language, but no one else knew how to read it. I knew there was one person that could translate for me, my sister Heidi. Here is me writing Heidi's name on Ace's hand to let him know that I wanted to see her.

/\/\/\CAUTION: PICTURE AHEAD MAY CAUSE NAUSEA...PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!/\/\/\

After my visitors left, it was time to check on my healing. The doctors say my incision looks great but I'm not so sure. They had to take out some of the staples when they went back in to make sure there wasn't a leak. So now I have stitches in their place. If it looks a li'l sore believe me it is. I'm not sure if I'm gonna have a belly button anymore either. I guess this will be more evidence that I was really hatched.

Sorry to those who are a li'l squeemish.

I think Ace needed a li'l comforting after seeing this.

/\/\/\THE GREAT ESCAPE/\/\/\

At around 2:00 I decided that I had had enough. This ventilator thing was noisy and uncomfortable. And the doctors wanted to leave it in for another whole day. I had tried to pull it out earlier that morning but was unsuccessful. As a result, they had strapped down my wrists in an attempt to restrain me. When the nurse walked out o' the room to get more sedation meds, I saw my opening. I moved my face close enough to my hands to get a hold o' the tubes and yanked them out. Free at last, free at last!! When the nurse returned to the room she could not believe it. She quickly put an oxygen mask on me and called for the doctor. When the doctor arrived he saw that I was maintaining my oxygen level just fine on the mask. So they decided to forget the ventilator and let me breathe on my own.

Can you tell I'm ready to be off this thing?

Summoning all my strength.

These things will never hold me!!

FREEDOM!!
Don't I look much happier?

Heidi is proud o' her baby sister.

So glad Amanda could come to see my victory over ventilation.

Ace is glad to be able to talk to his beautiful wife again.

Now that I was off the ventilator, it was time to start my rehabilitation. Mama is good at making sure I am working to get strong enough to get out of bed soon. I don't think I'm ready to make a workout video yet, but I am getting better.

/\/\/\THE END/\/\/\

(22nd) Ventilator/Braid/Restraints...Gardens.

UPMC Montefiore TICU
Monday, March 22, 2010
Hospital Count Days: 25

/\/\/\SLOW & STEADY/\/\/\

After all the excitement o' the weekend, it was nice to have a relatively quiet Monday. In the morning, the nurses were nice enough to wash my hair for me. They even put it in a cute braid. Throughout the day, I continued to improve on my breathing. The doctors kept turning the ventilator down a lil' at a time until I was on the lowest setting. Much o' my family was still here keeping me company. Doug, Heidi, and Amanda Shepherd came up to be with me to. Amanda flew all the way from Philadelphia just to see me. In the evening, things got a little more interesting. The doctors lowered my sedation level enough so that I was able to respond to the people around. And what do you think was the first thing I asked for? O' course, I wanted to see Ace!! When Ace heard, he came running back to my room to talk to me. I couldn't talk yet, but I could squeeze his hand and nod my head. The conversation didn't last too long though before the nurses put me out again to get some rest.

Not too exciting.

Hair is nice and clean.

See my pretty braid?

So nice.

This will probably be the only time I have this.

Mom Finnegan liked it to.

They put my arms in restraints so I wouldn't pull the tubes out o' my throat.

If they think these can hold me, they're sadly mistaken.

These massage my legs to help prevent blood clots.

/\/\/\B. BLAIR CRAWFORD COURTYARD/\/\/\

In the afternoon, Ace decided he needed to stretch his legs, so he went for a walk. He found this wonderful garden on the roof of the seventh floor. He hopes to be able to take me out to see it when I'm allowed to get around.

Beautiful rooftop garden.

Gazebo

Very peaceful.

Unique stone fountain.

/\/\/\THE END/\/\/\

(21st) Rotoprone...Visitors/Family

UPMC Montefiore TICU
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Hospital Count Days: 24

/\/\/\GOING FOR A RIDE/\/\/\

During the night, my oxygen levels dropped into the mid-80's. The doctors tried adjusting my ventilator settings to bring me back to the 90's but were unsuccessful. They ended up suctioning a bunch o' fluid and gunk out o' my right lung and put me in a rotoprone. A rotoprone is a special bed that rotates me back and forth while being on my belly. The motion helps my lungs and and blood vessels absorb more oxygen. At 6:00 AM on Sunday, the doctor called Ace and woke him up to tell him the news. It was not the wake-up call that he wanted to get. He immediately got up and came to see me.

This is what Ace saw when he entered the room.

Believe it or not, I'm in there somewhere.

In the center o' the picture you can see the back o' my right shoulder.

There I am. Snug as a bug.

I hope somebody read this.

/\/\/\LOT'S O' VISITORS/\/\/\

Sunday brought a lot o' visitors. I just wish I had been awake to see them all. But I know Ace was encouraged to see so many people willing to make the trip to see me.

My first visitor was my lil' sis Ashley. She came down with her mom and Joyce Brubaker. I'm so glad she got to see me and that she had such a positive attitude. She knows that's just how I would want her to be.

You didn't think a little medically induced coma would stop me from getting a feet picture did you?

When the nurse tried to flip me back over to start rotating again there was a little problem. Apparently, whoever set-up the bed did it wrong and burned up the motor. Pap always said that if something was broke, I must o' touched it. Now we had to wait for them to bring a new bed. Until then, they put me back in a regular bed. This made it nice for all my visitors, since now they would be able see more than just my nose and toes.

/\/\/\VISITORS/\/\/\


Uncle Chucky, Aunt Tammy, and Dougie

Rose Hinkle and Johnny

Jesse and Addison

Even Dad!!

Dad Finnegan telling fish stories.

Still waiting for my new bed.

Mom Finnegan kept me company.

Lots and lots o' tubes and sensors.

The fluids make me a lil' puffy.

But it's still a perfect fit!!

Finally, my new bed arrives...still in the packaging. Hopefully, we won't even need it.

/\/\/\THE END/\/\/\