2/28 Monday Morning/Afternoon

James is continuing to slowly improve.

This morning he is getting a trach mask with oxygen, and is thus being taken off the ventilator. This means he will be breathing on his own. This is another significant step forward.

He still has a temperature. No word is back from the lab on the cultures to determine the cause of the fever. This could take a couple more days. They are cooling him with ice packs and cold wash cloths. They cannot give him Tylenol due to concern over it causing liver damage in the condition he is in.

When not sleeping his blood pressure is still high, but they can deal with this with medication if necessary.

They are decreasing his sedation and he has been more "with it" neurologically in the last few days. His awareness continues to improve.

He is wanting to communicate but cannot talk. They are essentially trying to read his lips. He indicates he is not in pain and would like a drink of water. For now, he will have to settle for them swabbing his mouth to keep it from getting too dry.

This is all good news this morning. Getting off the ventilator is a significant step forward!