I have no opinions about the K vs B discussion because I don’t know enough.
I do have enough knowledge as to what happens to olive oil when one has been too stressed and worried to smell the bottle first, so my suggestion for the pasta is that you open the bottle and kinda wave your hand over it twords your face before you put the oil on your dinner.
And, yes, in case you didn’t know, I’m still praying.
I think your plan for first “K” then move to “B” is a very good one. You may be feeling ragged but your reasoning is still sharp.
Enjoy the book. 
Aside from being annoyed, I might have taken the opportunity to ask him which rehab center HE would recommend. When they thought that my grandmother would pull through, we asked a lot of the hospital staff which nursing home they’d recommend. None were shy with opinions, and it really helped us narrow down the 2 we wanted to personally visit.
Good luck moving on to the rehab stage. Glad your husband seems to be moving in the right direction.
B sounds like the best plan, based on what you said. but you are doing well: choose whichever makes sense to you. and definitely ask all the staff around you.
I am sure he will be fine* regardless* of what decision you make. continuing to send healing thoughts & vibes for BOTH of the Shoes…
Get some rest tonight! I’ll be waiting to hear about his PEG procedure.
Praying that the PEG stent surgery goes smoothly… I think your step down plan is a good one FWIW. It takes advantage of the pros of both places. Hope you got some good rest!
Whoops, **major **misunderstanding on my part. “K” does not have a gastroenterologist on staff and canNOT call out for one, since it’s a different facility than the hospital he’s in now. So, IF he needed a gastroenterologist specialist, he’d have to be re-admitted to the current hospital.
So: what we’re going to try to find out this morning is a) how likely he is to need a GI consult (he did have internal bleeding somewhere but that seems to have resolved itself) and b) if he’ll need one to take the stent out, down the road. There seems to be some background political/corporate reason, but we haven’t gotten a “K is waaay better than B” or a “Wha.. ? No, don’t even think about K, they suck” or anything concrete like that from any staff members. Near as I can tell, they’re forbidden to give their personal opinion on which is better, no doubt for liability reasons. The case manager (our middleman with the insurance companies) keeps emphasizing that K doesn’t have the GI on staff, but as she’s not only not Shoe’s doctor, she’s not a doctor, so o o o … I just have no way of knowing how crucial that is. We’ll find out from his drs. once they’re done with his stent surgery.
He’s having the PEG put in at the moment. Thanks, everyone, for the good wishes. As per usual, I’m having no problem falling asleep, but staying asleep is kind of a bitch for me.
PEG went in fine. The GI doctor said:
So, we’re going with the original plan: K for now. Once he’s well enough to be moved out of acute care into a rehab facility, we’ll re-evaluate from there.
Separated out, so funny-time isn’t mixed in with serious-medical-time:
The nurses showed Shoe a basic fine motor control exercise: touching his thumb to each of his other four fingers in sequence. When he was being coached to try again, yesterday while we were there, by one of the nurses on shift, he started mouthing words with his patented This Is IMPORTANT face while staring at the nurse and moving through the motions. It was his dad who figured out: he was trying to teach her how to cook a steak properly. 
(Squeeze the meaty part of your hand under the ball of your thumb: that’s what raw beef feels like - squishy. As you touch your thumb to your index finger, you should feel a slightly firmer texture. By the time you touch your pinky to your thumb, the muscle should feel quite firm: that’s similar to how well-done beef feels.)
The nurse laughed and laughed, and said she’d seen on “Master Chef” how they’d poke a steak and yell “It’s too rare!” or “It’s too well-done; it’s a hockey puck now!” and said she’d wondered how they did that, and that now she knew.
When they removed my feeding tube, they simply cut some stitches and yanked. Hardly a procedure at all.
Is Mr. Shoe well enough to have a little input on the “K” vs. “B” decision?
Maybe take some photos to show him, too, so he’d have some idea what the next stop looks like.
purplehorseshoe, this is all terrific news! I know you still have a long, long row to hoe though. We will continue to be here to support you.
Glad to hear the doc thinks the internal bleeding was only the feeding tube. Sending good thoughts about Mr. Shoe’s lungs clearing up.
Big steps forward, purple!
-D/a
I’m so happy that the news is still boring. Keep taking care of yourself.
No offense flatlined, but I hate seeing your name as the last poster in this thread.
purplehorseshoe I still think your plan of first K then B is a good one; K can handle any type emergency that might come up. B is for when he graduates from acute care. I think every hospital has a Patients’ Advocate and talking with that person might make you feel even more informed and suported.
His reactions show that he’s alive and kickin’ inside, and is wonderful to hear! I’m so glad for you both.
Purpleshoe, do you mind my asking what you and Mr. Shoe look like? Even a vague description would be fine. I’m finding it odd to be so caught up in an ongoing story, with invisible strangers in my mind’s eye.
Thanks.
T. Cretin, we’re in our early 30s. I have longish browish-blondish hair, and his is dark and quite curly. Slight Texas drawl. We’re, uh, white folks. Duzzat help?
Minor nice story: Shoe’s dexterity and strength in his dominant hand (damn lefties … ) is improved enough that his dad talked him into a couple of rounds of Thumb War tonight, something that would have been utterly unthinkable a week ago.
He is, however, deeply disappointed: the resp. tech told him straight-up tonight that he will likely have that trach tube in for, well, probably a matter of weeks. I think, despite being told it’s a process and he has to be patient, that he though it would be out in a few days or something. I don’t think he’s really wrapped his mind around just how very sick he’s been and how long it’s going to take him to recover. He REALLY hasn’t wrapped his mind around the fact that he might not ever recover fully - he may have respiratory or other issues for the rest of his life. Who knows? But I think he believes that the doctors are being overly cautious and that he’ll prove them wrong and be bouncing around back at work in six weeks.
Still: his nurse tonight hasn’t been on duty in a while, and she was visible amazed at how much stronger he’s acting and how much healthier he looks. ETA: oh, and his infectious disease doc rejiggered his antibiotics and - hopefully this is related - his Xrays were much clearer this morning than they’ve been. If anyone out there has mental lung-clearing rays to beam his way, now’s the time! Kthxbye
You may find, over time, that he will have a very sketchy memory of how long his stay in ICU was. He will likely think it was much shorter than he remembers.
Also, don't discount the power of positive thinking. Wanting and expecting to get well sometimes makes it so.Definitely. Thank you. And I hope all our good thoughts are getting through for you.