Update 2

To All Don's Friends, Family and "Fans":

Weds morning 9/9/09, Don's respirator was "turned off" for about 1 hour and 15 min. to see how he breathed on his own. During that time I was doing a back to back "zapping" session on him. I then left and went to my sister's house to gather up things for going home, then went back to the hospital on the way north, anticipating seeing Don free of the offensive contraption. I was crest fallen when I saw the respirator on and breathing for him. The nurse told me that the ICU doc felt it was best to keep it on another day or two since Don is so weak and it would conserve his energy if he didn't have to all of a sudden breathe on his own. This evening when I came back to see him and give him another zapping session, his oncologist came through and we were able to have a chat. He told me that Don would likely be off the respirator tomorrow and they would try to get him to sit up in a chair to cough out some fluid in his lungs on his own (he has been laying down on his back all this time and needs to be upright to be able to cough out phlegm as it comes up.)

Well, I am anxious to see the contraption out of Don. I can't even imagine how uncomfortable it is to have that thing in him, breathing FOR him. Several times he has tried to pull it out and everytime he does, they shoot him up with Adivil (spelling?) - a heavy-duty sedative. While Don is not comatose, he is heavily sedated. A nurse told me that once they get the respirator out, patients feel so exhausted that they finally sleep well. I am quite anxious for this to happen, even though it is next to impossible in ICU. I am wondering if I can put some ear plugs in his ears so that he can finally get some REM sleep!

We had been able to get copies of daily lab reports from the nurses until today. Now they are making me go through medical records and restricting access to them despite me faxing them Don's signature on a form we have, giving us (me and three others) medical Power of Attorney AND the same form being in their files. We will have to fix this tomorrow since we want a daily record of his lab reports.

Mary, my righthand experienced person with this (and former VacLib co-director), will be down here in the morning to help me deal with medical records, dietician, and other items that I am simply inexperienced with. Her support has been invaluable. I still have so many questions, concerns, and yes... fears to deal with and she keeps me straight and appropriate in dealing with all this.

Thankfully, we are blessed with a fabulous network of true family and friends. Wouldn't be able to hold up without the support from Yeshua, family and friends. What an amazing lesson for me to hand over my beloved husband's life to allopathy while trusting in the Lord to make it alright, and doing all in our power to minimize the harm from the drug treatments. Keep the faith ~ thanks so much for all your prayers for Don's recovery!

With Love and Deep Gratitude,

~Ingri