Sounds like good news to me from a friend of Walt . . . Bill Barber
What a surprise tonight when we walked into Walt's room, and found he was
off the respirator! According to the nurse, they removed it around 11 this
morning, just 2 hours after the doctor told us it would be at least a couple
of
days....go figure....guess the pulmonologist knew better. At any rate, he
was relatively alert, although it was apparent he is still in and out,
evidenced by the fact he had told the nurse right before we got there that he
had
been kidnapped. He also told us he had been shopping at a store that sold big
clothes.
The most telling thing, though, and to me, the evidence that all our prayers
and good thoughts DO have an effect, is the story he told us about a dream
he had, where he saw Jesus. He dreamed that Jesus picked him up and threw him
over his shoulder and smacked him on the bottom, and said, "J. WALTER!"
That was all he remembered about it. (For those of you who may not know,
since
his father's name was Walter, he was known as J. Walter when he was growing
up.) As you all know, he is not a religious person, so this was pretty out of
character. We suspect that he had this dream Wednesday, when he was at his
lowest point, since he has been improving since then.
He was hungry and asking for food, but we explained to him that since he
hadn't eaten anything in over a week, it would be a gradual process to work his
way back to real food. The nurse said that they will probably start him on
clear liquids tomorrow.
He was making jokes, singing, and lucid for most of the time, with periodic
rambles into things that only made sense to him. They still have his arms
restrained so he can't pull out any of the tubes, but I suspect that won't be
necessary as he gets stronger and more aware of his surroundings.
So thank you all again for the prayers and good wishes. I am totally
convinced that's what has made the difference in the progress he has made. He
still has a very long road ahead of him, but at least he is still with us and
slowly improving. I'll keep you updated.
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