An anxious start

I really hoped I could have reported that Tom was off the vent, and they tried, but Tom had a couple of pauses that were a little too long so they are going to keep him on it and may try again tomorrow. The nurse thought because Tom has been on the vent so long he was used to it breathing for him. Needless to say he was quite agitated when I got here, and wide awake. It took a while, and some morphine, to calm him down. So I am perched on his bed, holding his hand and typing with my left hand. His throat and leg are both hurting. I don't think he has grasped all that has happened. He just knows he's miserable and it is heartbreaking to see him suffering and scared. He's sleeping now but every once in a while he'll stir and shake his hand. I just squeeze it to remind him I'm still here. The nurses said he was scratching his head this morning so I washed his hair for him. He was cold too so he's back under the warming blanket. I had a little wrap up server work to do until about 10:30 last night and then the puppies and I went straight to bed. We slept until six this morning, it was great! We did some trimming in the yard, cleaned out the fireplace and a few other chores. I got a good workout at kickboxing class too, which I really needed. While I was getting ready to come to the hospital, I received a surprise phone call from my Aunt Charlene (mom's sister), who lives in their hometown of Horton, KS. You may not find it on many maps, it's a small town but holds big childhood memories! It was so good to hear her voice and words of encouragement. Dr. may, who is on call for Dr. Rutland, just came by. He said Tom's kidneys are doing well and not to worry about the vent test, that it would get better. Tom's WBC is up to 19 from 17 yesterday but he said not to worry about that either. Tom is still on antibiotics. His BP is stable, his heart rate is over 100 but has come down from 121 when I got here. I'll probably stay today until they make me leave at 6. I will beg them to keep Tom sedated until tomorrow. I'll plan to be here right at 8, I don't know if they will let me stay with him when they do the vent test or not. If he's awake, I want him to know I'm close by. This new bed is big enough for both of us but is not too comfortable to perch on and there is even less room in the cube to move around. I'm going to try to move to the chair and scoot it as close to Tom as possible. If anything changes, I'll send another update.