Off the Ventilator for a Bit

To my pleasant surprise I arrived to Nick's room and Dawn and Mrs. Herber
were talking to Nick trying to wake him up and make him aware that I was there.

As of yesterday we were supposed to let him rest and not get him aggitated. But things had gotten a bit better since then.

They had him off of the ventilator for 2 hours today - which
is really good for first shot. They need him to do some breathing exercises
while off and he was a bit sleepy yet to do them - but that is
understandable at this point. They are hoping to take him off the vent again
later today.

Hess arrived while I was there and we enjoyed a visit with Nick together.

They changed Nick's sedative so that he isn't quite as far under. They are
working up to removing the tubes and all as soon as he is strong enough.

Nick was able to open his eyes a bit and respond with head nods and shakes
to questions and comments - which was great to see.

Hess and I sat and watched the daytime court shows with him - more like try
to wake him up during the shows.

There is some talk about whether he will be able to handle a plane trip to
Seattle with his bleeding issues. Though the bleeding has been stabalized
the pressure changes in an airplane may cause bleeding to start again. There
may be other avenues to pursue such as Johns Hopkins in MD.