Whew - I'm tired, happy but tired...

Today is a landmark of sorts for a number of reasons - Tim showed significant improvement again today, Robbie saw him for the first time since he was on the ventilator, he is no longer on any kind of breathing support (no supplemental O2), and tonight is the first night he will be by himself in the hospital.

Wilson went home today after 5 nights in the hospital sleeping in Tim's room on the recliner they have in there. While it's a reasonably comfortable recliner, I cannot imagine sleeping on it for 5 nights. I mentioned this to my sister (who slept on it for 3 nights), and she said, "I have nothing but complete respect for Wilson. It would have been really hard spending 5 nights straight there." I like to think that the fact that someone was with Tim for the most critical time he was in the hospital made a difference. I had a conversation with Louise B. last night, she told me much the same thing my sister told me. Quotes mine but generally - "Having an advocate with the patient all the time makes a big difference. Family notices things that even the best professionals sometimes don't. Knowing that there is someone always there, invested in the patient outcome, leads to even more complete care." Understand that I have nothing but respect for all the professionals at Georgetown: Julie, Tracy, Diane, Z, Vanessa, Carrie, Michelle, and everyone are incredibly competent people who I respect completely. It was still nice to have Wilson and Kate there.

Tim was Tim today - though pretty tired. I brought Robbie to see him and it was obvious that a 5 year old is completely out of place in an ICU. He was appreciated by all of Tim's doctors/nurses though, who have seen pictures and heard stories about him for the past week. Robbie was a little scared of Daddy at first. Despite my best efforts - he was unsure around Tim and the medical equipment. I think the fact that Tim was awake and couldn't interact with him in the way he is used to was the main reason. It took a little while, but Robbie held Tim's hand and told him he loved him, in between drawing a really big battleship on the whiteboard they have in Tim's room. It looks like Tim will be probably moving out of the ICU to a regular room on Monday. I'll let you know how that goes.

Tim read the entire blog (with the exception of this latest entry) and said, "I don't have words, thank everyone again." I think because he doesn't remember all of what he went through, which is good, he is still trying to process just how ill he was. Hard to get your head around I would imagine.

He will probably take over blogging in the next few days. Take care. Liz