Busy Days for Dean

Busy days here. Much of it so far is Craig docs/nurses/RT/speech figuring out Dean, me trying to follow along, and also get set up in the apartment that Craig provided for my 1st month here.

Friday wore Dean out. He was such a RockStar but it was a lot. So Saturday was not as eventful as far as Dean's activity went. They didn't even take him off the vent. He was just wiped! But we also found out more of why he was wiped out. He is still very swollen, and his abdomen was getting more and more distended. They had to run some tests and discovered he has a bacterial infection. All treatable, but a little bump in the road. His temp increased because of it which made him uncomfortable. He just could not get comfortable sitting, lying down, or turned one way or another. New/more antibiotics were given; more fluids, and no feedings.

I was able to sneak away to meet up with friends from Colorado Springs. Dana & Andy took me out for a much needed beer and dinner. We talked about the accident, Dean & our mutual love of labradors. Dana & Andy were also offered me one of their extra vehicles to use while we are here. This is will be a life changer I'm sure. Following my outing, I returned to Dean at the hospital. I had been leaving his room each night around supper time, and he was good with that, but Sat night was different. I stayed til he was comfortably asleep. It was a late one and a tough day on both of us.

Today (Sunday) was a glorious day however! Dean claimed he felt 107% better when I arrived this morning. His mood was peppy, and he was off the vent again. They had set him up with a cap to go over his trach but added more moisture today. He was talking again, and talked most of the day. I became his assistant today and furiously wrote down what he dictated to me. It was a very detailed To-Do list. I chuckled through some of it, but he was not happy with me. He meant business. (That's Dean when it comes to getting stuff done.) And he will check in on me tomorrow to see how far I got on our list. LOL.

Due to Dean feeling so fabulous today, we got him up & in his chair to take a tour of Craig. The gyms are closed on Sunday but he was able to peek in. His nurse & tech took us around outside as well, and it felt so good for Dean to get outside with that sun on his face. Following the tour, he sat with me in his chair facing out his window (which looks at the construction going up on top of the building across the way).

The rest of Dean's afternoon was mellow. They put him on a machine that relieves the pressure in his abdomen and let him sleep. I was able to sneak out for a run to Target for apartment supplies and lunch.

Dean's highlight of the day was facetiming with McKenna, Patrick, Mitchell, Laura, Brett, Anika & Zara. He was quite tired from his day, but he wanted me to go through all his text messages since the day after the surgery so he could respond. We are looking forward to what happens on Monday.

Thank you to those who have been reaching out each day with a short n sweet text, a voicemail, a prayer, a song, or even just some cute emojis. They all make me smile.