Robs moved to a new room.

Rob is in a new room in ICU. He has a private room and now we have permission to visit him all day except from 6-8AM and 6-8PM. When they moved him we had just come in and Marla said "Hey his breathing tube disconnected!" I was in the room so I reconnected it. It was so scary to see him gasping for breath. I talked to his nurse and the intern and asked why there is only a friction fit connection. They said that is the way it has to be and that there is an alarm if it disconnects. We never heard the alarm. I told them and they tested it and it was working. We don't need that kind of excitement and poor Rob does not need the added stress. I spoke with him and showed him how to reconnect the tube if it came out. He can move his hands pretty well now and he was sitting up a lot during the day. He seems to be tolerating the breathing tube better and we pray with each day that he will get stronger and able to deal with the removal of the tube. The doctor said that they could do a tracheotomy which would allow him to talk and yet they would have control to help his breathing. The pulmunary doctor wants to try staying with the tube and not the trach for another day or two. The trach is not a permanant thing. He would have som neck scares, but with all the other surgery marks he won't mind. We hope he can have the tube removed and that he starts to breath on his own. It will be great to have someone with him all day now that he is in the new room. We also hope that he can get some sleep. It is always so loud and active in the recovery room. I hope his new room is much more quiet.

Jennifer is here with us and that is a real blessing since New Orleans is uninhabitable. Landon and Jen can stay here with us and will have to wait to see what the future will bring. What a blessing that she and Landon were able to be here. If I had been in New Orleans I might have stayed since there have been so many false alarms in the past. What a mess it is there. Our hotel has been filled with evacuees of New Orleans. I hope that the Medical school gets back to operation in a reasonable time.

We get to go back to see Rob tonight and it will be the first time we will not be rushed to spend some time with him. We hope that he is not too tired. It will be great to just sit in the room and watch him rest. We thank you all for your prayers and please continue to remember him in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks and love, Mike