Aaron did WHAT today????
Well, I hate to brag about my son’s accomplishments, but I think you will all forgive me. The most bizarre thing happened today at Magee. There were several of us visiting Aaron at the same time, so we went into the Recreation (for lack of a better word) room, a more spacious room where there is a big screen TV more suitable for watching football. Aaron’s cousin Bill and his girlfriend, Danielle , Aaron’s dad, Aunt Deb, Andy Gingrich and I were all sitting around with Aaron, chatting and watching football. Aaron was off the vent (had been since around 8:00 AM) and was wearing the trach collar. Anytime we take Aaron from his room, we have to be sure we have a tank of oxygen with us. We did and it was hooked up and in use as it always is. Bill, for whatever reason, happened to look at the oxygen tank and notice it was empty. We didn’t say anything to Aaron about this, he seemed to be doing just fine and we didn’t want to alarm him. We weren’t sure how long it had been empty, because it hadn’t affected Aaron in the least; no “alarms” went off to indicate he wasn’t getting sufficient oxygen! The respiratory therapist was notified (Aaron still wasn’t aware his tank was empty) and she brought in a full tank of oxygen. When she did, she made Aaron aware of what had taken place. He had been breathing on his own, with no oxygen, for quite some time! Aaron asked if he HAD to be put on the oxygen, she said no; so he continued to breath on his own, with no assistance what-so-ever for four hours! FOUR HOURS!!!!!!!!! Aunt Deb and I had to leave Magee earlier than normal today because we had to attend the viewing of a dear friend who passed away on Thursday. While we were saddened about that, we were thrilled that Aaron had breathed on his own without oxygen for the short period of time that he had up to that point…..if we had known he was going to go on for three more hours with no oxygen after we left…….Lord only knows what kind of hooting and hollering we might have subjected him to! (Aaron, we all know Aunt Ede’s in a better place; maybe SHE was looking down on you today!)
Aaron had a lot of questions about the 230 Cafe fund raiser held on Saturday. Of course, he wanted to know who was there and between all of us who were visiting him today remembering different people, I think we about covered it. He is grateful for everybody’s support and asked that I send his thanks. So, on behalf of Aaron (and his family and fiance, Jaime), THANKS EVERYBODY!!!
So, Aaron was off the ventilator today (the last I heard) for almost 12 hours. He was very tired when we left, but his determination wears ME out; no wonder he was pooped!
Stay tuned for more information on Aaron’s progress getting off the ventilator! And we’ll let you know where he’s going next on his journey and when! (Also, we hope to add pictures from the fundraisers in the near future.)
Thank you and bless you all! Please continue to pray for Aaron’s recovery.