Bill, Thursday August 1, mid-day; smaller trach

So much has happened this morning.

Doctor Sharif and Doctor Kory both talked about discharging, possibly tomorrow.  In our world, discharge means transfer to the rehab facility, although Dr. Sharif said "home." He also talked about a couple of follow-up appointments in August. We'll see if that's possible.

Do you remember that Bill was signed up for a drug study within 24 hours of coming here originally? Then it was stopped because of the stress on his kidneys. It turns out they will still follow-up with him, it still gives them data even if his course was outside the design.

Speech pathology worked with him on swallowing and some very limited vocalizations. Later, the ENT doc came and switched out his trach to a smaller, cuffless one. The switch means that air moves through both his mouth and his neck; the trach can be blocked so when he exhales, the air passes his vocal cords and he can start practicing speech. Eventually the trach can be removed.