Biting, frustration, cardiac chair, video, dad update

I almost got bit today (well, yesterday, since it's now the wee hours of Sunday morning). Denise kept pulling the tracheostomy hose off. She was about to do it agiain and as I was prying her fingers off, she tried biting my fingers. She put up a pretty good fight, too. She's really angry with having to be in bed, having all the tubes, not being able to use the restroom, unable to speak, too uncoordinated to write (though her scribbles are getting finer). She's pretty loopy much of the time, so it's always like the first time, having to tell her about all these hoses, how long she's been in the hospital, etc. I had to tell her that if she kept popping the hose off, she'd get sedated or tied down (and then she'd really get mad).
The absorption of nutrition continues to be problematic. She's thrown up a few times over the last few days (nothing aspirated). As far as meds, there's been a change from Primaxin to Flaggyl (to try & nail the colitis). Amicacin is also on deck or already started (I can't remember for what, though... I'll have to ask again).
Denise was moved into a special chair for about 45 minutes today... a "cardiac" chair or a "stroke" chair. Her bed back raises and feet lower, but apparently not to the extent of today's chair (which can lay flat at the same level as the bed for moving a patient). I wasn't there for that, but my guess is that she appreciated the change of position.
I've been showing Denise footage of the kids on a camcorder. She loves that. I also showed the kids some positive footage of Denise in the hospital (awake, smiling, able to wave & make kissy lips for the kids). They wanted to watch it over & over.
Earlier Gracie said she wants to be a nurse. Word got out that I tried to get her a nurse's cap from the gift shop, but they don't have any. So someone from another part of the hospital made some caps out of card stock for Gracie to wear until the real cap that I ordered comes in the mail. Gracie's been using her toy doctor kit to check us all, including her dolls, and Chloe the dog. Gracie tried putting the sphygmomanometer on Chloe's tail a while back, but it was wagging too much.
An update on my dad... My dad's been dealing a recurrance of cancer (colon, liver, lung, lymph) since last November (sorry to those of you that didn't get Christmas cards from us last year, by the way). His inclination was that he'd rather live six month without chemo and feel OK most of the time than string along for two years with chemo and feel too lousy to do anything he likes. My dad just came back from a Southern Gospel quartet convention in South Carolina (he visited the area of Tennessee that Denise & I were looking at, too). He had a great time. At the most recent oncology appointment, the doctor suggested that he do another series of chemo treatments so he stands a chance of going to the convention again next year. Those of you that know him will not be suprised that this line of reasoning helped to persuade him in his decision to follow the doctor's suggestion.

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