# Mr. Shoe is in the hospital **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 12, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279 "2012-08-12T16:58:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 29
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/562 "2012-10-10T03:33:08Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > (NOW she tells us! šŸ˜‰ ) > [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I know! Wow, thatā€™s awesome! Yeahā€¦like, how do you forget to mention a little detail like that?? :):)šŸ™‚ -D/a ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/563 "2012-10-10T05:16:26Z")
Yay!!! ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/564 "2012-10-10T08:42:59Z")
Excellent news! ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/565 "2012-10-10T15:14:53Z")
Been out of town, am so glad there is so much good Schmoopie news for me to catch up on! ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/566 "2012-10-10T16:16:30Z")
Oh, was it that important? (Not really being snarky: I didnā€™t know it was _that_ significant.) _More woo-hoo_: heā€™s down to 7% PEEP and 35% oxygen. _Not-so woo-hoo_: weā€™re back to the full mask/gown/etc. extravaganza. There was ā€œa miscommunicationā€ between some of the nurses and the infectious disease folks, and since in cases like this everyone defers to Mr. Head Honcho Big Cheez Doctor (the head of the ICU) and since he is - understandably, I think - playing it safe rather than sorry, weā€™re back on the full precautions. We just wonā€™t tell them I gave him a big kiss last night, eh? šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/567 "2012-10-10T19:25:39Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Oh, was it that important? (Not really being snarky: I didnā€™t know it was _that_ significant.) Yes, itā€™s a very, very big deal. It also may not last, so donā€™t freak out if they have to rejigger with the settings. It takes a whole lot of energy for your brain to remember to breathe when youā€™re as sick as heā€™s been, and it takes all sorts of coordination from various receptors in the lungs and blood vessels, too. Sometimes these things, as Iā€™m sure youā€™ve already realized, are indeed two steps forward, one step back. Just keep dancinā€™! šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/568 "2012-10-11T00:29:38Z")
Ah. Thank you! šŸ™‚ Well, for the statisticians and data miners playing along, thereā€™s another\* number on his monitor: ā€œ_ **P supp** _.ā€ It is currently at 17%. The Resp. Tech Extraordinaire ā„¢ said that when it can stay at 16% with Shoe tolerating that, they can start moving his PEEP down. Itā€™s currently holding steady at 7. Their goal is 5. I will now bow out and leave it to the most excellent **WhyNot** to translate that into something us mere mortals can understand better. Regarding the on-again-off-again precautions ā€“ The acinetobacter is indeed dying off in his lungs and the infectious disease team is indeed feeling better about his bacterial load but the main ICU head is saying that, basically, they donā€™t know a whole helluva lot\*\* about this particular bug, and - again, very understandable - would prefer to play it safe WRT possibly spreading it around. - Ok, there are a whole bunch of them. Sensory overload. I ignore what I canā€™t understand. \*\* It apparently wandered over stateside during the mid 2000s after the second Iraq war, using returning veterans as a vector. Iā€™d post cites (other than ā€œa couple of nurses told me thatā€) but a quick 'Net search brings up a [disturbing](http://www.acinetobacter.org/)amount of [scaremongering](http://acinetobacterbaumannii.org/), so Iā€™ll defer here. (_Minor warning_: that first link is red-text-on-black-background and made my eyeballs bleed.) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/569 "2012-10-11T01:11:09Z")
Well it still sounds overall positive - things are looking up! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/570 "2012-10-11T01:21:22Z")
Now, to be honest, Iā€™m in a little over my head. Sorry, I havenā€™t worked ICU yet, so I havenā€™t learned a lot about ventilators (and even in ICU, most of the time the nurses donā€™t mess with the vent much when weā€™ve got awesome Respiratory Techs who know way more than us.) I know it stands for Pressure Support. And itā€™s, more or less, how hard the ventilator is blowing air in when he takes a breath. This is, heā€™s in control of starting the breath, and how long the breath takes, but when it senses him starting to take a breath, the machine pushes the air a bit harder to make it easier for him to get the air in. I think the % means the percent of peak flow, but Iā€™m not sure if itā€™s peak inspiratory (inhale) flow or peak expiratory (exhale) flow. Either way, it means the machine isnā€™t moving the air as hard as a full breath; itā€™s just assisting, not doing \*all \*the work for him. When he doesnā€™t need it to push very much then heā€™ll be able to try breathing with less of the PEEP setting (and yes, itā€™s just 1 number down, but respiratory folks see huge differences in these numbers!). PEEP stands for Positive End Expiratory Pressure, and while itā€™s on, it means the machine never stops blowing entirely, even when heā€™s exhaled all the way. Even when heā€™s stopped exhaling and makes that pause before starting his next breath, the machine is gently blowing air in. Bigger number means blowing harder. This keeps the tiny little air sacs (ā€œalveoliā€) in his lungs open just a little bit all the time. That way, they donā€™t gum up with mucus and get stuck shut, forcing air to the less gummed up places and overinflating them, causing lung damage. As he gets stronger and breathes more regularly, he shouldnā€™t need this as much - heā€™ll get back into a strong rhythm of inhale-exhale and there will be less gunk to gum things up. tldr: P. Supp is how hard itā€™s blowing in when heā€™s inhaling. PEEP is how hard itā€™s blowing in when heā€™s done exhaling. Did that help at all? If youā€™re really curious, let the Respiratory Tech know youā€™d like to understand more, and maybe when heā€™s got a few minutes between patients heā€™ll come teach you more than you ever wanted to know about ventilators! (And then you can teach me!) ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/571 "2012-10-11T02:59:54Z")
Holy crap! No, that was extremely helpful - thank you! I think that may be all I can absorb for now anyway, but it is nice to know whatā€™s going on instead of just nodding politely. Really, that was perfect. šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/572 "2012-10-11T23:36:30Z")
16% P Supp and 30% oxygen all day today. He can wiggle his toes just a bit stronger, I think. **looks around house** Man, oh man. We live in a little house with no garage, and the storage shed out back is disintegrating and, besides, is full. I just donā€™t know how a dude in a wheelchair would manage moving around. I think if I put two chairs from our living room into a little storage unit it would help make some maneuvering space but I hate to spend the extra money. Harrumph! One of the initial goals when we moved into this house was to replace the storage shed but boy has _that_ fallen by the wayside. I dunno if that thing will survive another winter (assuming we get what most folks call a ā€œwinterā€ since last year was mild as hell _thus exacerbating the mosquito problem this year._) ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/573 "2012-10-11T23:38:16Z")
One other small thing to go with **WhyNot** ā€™s stellar answer. The reason they are so focused on getting the PEEP down to 5 is thatā€™s considered physiological. In other words, itā€™s what we all walk around with. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/574 "2012-10-12T00:04:35Z")
YEAH!! for the 30%. Just a few days ago he was at 55%. Thatā€™s a HUGE improvement! StG ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/575 "2012-10-12T00:12:44Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > One other small thing to go with **WhyNot** ā€™s stellar answer. > The reason they are so focused on getting the PEEP down to 5 is thatā€™s considered physiological. In other words, itā€™s what we all walk around with. Ooh! Thank you, I didnā€™t know that, and wondered why the specific goal is 5. _makes mental note_ ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/576 "2012-10-12T01:35:12Z")
Geez. I go to Dallas for work and sit around wondering what is going on with TOH across town but canā€™t check due to work-only computer and a phones-off policy that kept me only checking on stuff for way too little time during the day. I arrive back home to the news that while I was ignorant of TOH happenings while in Dallas, across town TOH is kicking butt on bacteria. YAY! šŸ˜ƒ Way to go! ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/577 "2012-10-12T03:00:29Z")
_ **Thanks** _. I got nothing more than that right now, but I mean it. I really canā€™t believe so many people keep taking the time to follow whatā€™s turning out the be one helluva long-ass thread. A tiny part of me is briefly surprised each time I go outside (ā€œWhy isnā€™t it hotter?ā€) because everything _stopped_ in mid-August and Iā€™m just waiting for the world to pick back up again. Infectious disease doc came by this morning, seemed pleased (according to his report - we werenā€™t there). She also has not changed anything - assuming I understood him correctly - which my undereducated ass is taking as a good sign. I mean, that must indicate that the current combo is working, right? I think he may have said something about her moving towards taking down the _amount_ of each one, but at that point he started mouthing too fast for me to follow and he got frustrated and gave up. He rolls his eyes whenever I mention ASL. I canā€™t tell if heā€™s just being cranky or if itā€™s some way of believing that heā€™ll get that talking valve sooner rather than later. Or that heā€™ll get better faster than the docs say and heā€™ll walk and talk his way out of the ICU, thumbing his nose at the naysayers who said heā€™d need physical rehab. Whatever, I showed him that I know how to spell ā€œiceā€ (thatā€™s usually what we sign through the window the most: ā€œIā€™m coming in! Do you want a fresh cup of ice?ā€) and did it today through the window and he motioned that no, he was OK, and heā€™s just gonna have to like that we used rudimentary ASL anyway! _pbbbbbbth_ (I donā€™t know any ASL myself besides the whisker-stroking sign for ā€œcatā€ and most of the alphabet. In a row ā€¦ I have to mentally go through the whole series to remember a particular letter.) > [@StGermain](#): > > YEAH!! for the 30%. Just a few days ago he was at 55%. Thatā€™s a HUGE improvement! > > StG Youā€™re right. Isnā€™t that bizarre, that I need to be reminded of that? Anyway, I did, so thank you. Off for a short walk - itā€™s breezy but humid - and then a sweet potato for dinner. I did finally manage to hit up the grocery store on the way home for fresh stuff, and ā€” oh, and itā€™s trash night. \*Sigh \*- gotta go. _grumbles off to do chores_ ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/578 "2012-10-12T04:01:20Z")
Of course we are checking this thread daily, we think you are a very special person and because you love TOS, we do too. I donā€™t know just how dinky your place is, but could you push the extra chairs against the walls and stack your occasional tables on the chairs? It wonā€™t look nice, but TOS will need the room, and he wonā€™t be in the wheelchair forever. Do his folks have room in their garage for extra stuff? This is just a temporary solution, but its only a temporary problem. Mr Shoe seems pretty motivated and that helps a lot when someone is recovering. After Billā€™s heart surgery, he was motivated. I know that when I was posting about it, I said it was just because of hawt sex with me, but that really wasnā€™t accurate. Bill wanted to get back to 100% and did everything he could to get there. Shortly after I came back home (after hawt sex), a younger friend (younger than Bill, not me) had a triple bypass. The friend wasnā€™t nearly as motivated and didnā€™t work at his recovery. He spent a couple of months using a walker and didnā€™t try to climb stairs at all. Its been almost 8 months and my friend is only at about 75%. Iā€™m just sharing this to tell you that TOSā€™s motivation and drive will make so much difference in his recovery. ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/579 "2012-10-12T04:16:49Z")
Bumping **flatlined** out of last poster place. 'nother long time thread follower here. Go Schmoopie! ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/580 "2012-10-12T11:49:20Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > Of course we are checking this thread daily, we think you are a very special person and because you love TOS, we do too. This, exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279/581 "2012-10-12T12:06:25Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > Iā€™m just sharing this to tell you that TOSā€™s motivation and drive will make so much difference in his recovery. Translation - offer him lots of hawt sex šŸ˜‰ Also checking in to say Iā€™m still following this too, and Iā€™m glad to see the progress is good. Thinking of you, purple-family! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279.md?page=28) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mr-shoe-is-in-the-hospital/631279.md?page=30)