The storming has eased somewhat due to the medications. But if he misses a dose, or they are late with a dose, then the storming starts back up again. So he still needs the medications.
He has been moving his right arm more. Yesterday I saw him reach up to his face and scratch his nose with his hand. Twice!
He is still not attempting to speak, but over the past few days he will look at me very intently and move his lips as if he's beginning to think about saying something. He can't really speak anyway, because of the trach that's currently in his throat, and they are working on weaning him down to a size that can accept a speaking valve, or whatever those are called, but there's no rush on that right now. His oxygen levels have been doing great, and he has been breathing room air for over a week now, which means he's not getting any extra O2.
Jim was moved to a new room yesterday. What this means is that he is stable now. But I think it's scary. The nurses in the ICU only had two patients. Now they have up to six sometimes! Yikes. Also, he's not being continually monitored anymore. I think there's a little battery pack attached to him that monitors his heart rate, but nothing visual that I can see, though it's being monitored elsewhere in the hospital.
The kids have been in to see Jim a couple times this week, and they are glad to see their Daddy again. Jim seemed quite happy to see them. His heart rate went down, and he looked and looked at them as they gave him hugs and kisses and talked to him. We sang songs to him and put lotion on his hands, and wiped his forehead with a damp cloth, and then the kids watched movies on my laptop while I talked to Jim the rest of the time.
It's good to see Jim doing things like scratch his nose, but his muscles are becoming stiff and wasting away from non-use. He has a lot of work ahead of him to gain back what he's lost.