Trouble breathing....

Because Jim has so much crud in his mouth, it's getting in the way of his breathing passage.  Worst case scenerio...doctors say that some people have to be intubated(have a tube inserted into the throat).   That's not going to happen with Jim.   Last night the nurse used like a sponge-like swab in the inside of Jim's mouth.  He's been breathing out of his mouth which created a lot of  dried blood, dried mucus and scabs.  The salt water drenched swab was used to soften it up and get it out of his mouth.  This morning they gave him a oxygen mask that covers his whole mouth.  The idea is to soften up the sores and the dried blood.  It seems to be working:)   His tongue is swollen too.  Today's nurse said she hasn't seen this bad of a case of mucusitis in a long time.  The PA said that was true, but that they don't use this chemotherapy regiment as often as some of the others anymore.  His counts are up though!!!!!   That was great news!  But these cells are having to work extra hard to heal his mouth and the rest of his digestive system.  He still has the urgent diarea.  I don't feel comfortable leaving him alone in the hospital.  He is still a little out of it and unable to talk.  The nurse says he's just not processing all of this.  He is also impulsive.  He doesn't use the nurse's call button.  He just starts to get out of bed which causes the bed alarm to go off.  It wakes me up and we go through our little routine.  He is very unstable on his feet and is at a high risk for falling.  I barely leave the room- no longer than ten minutes.  But even then, I've come back to find him out of the bed.  I try to help the nurses as much as I can.  I tell you what...Nurses work hard and there really is not a whole lot of glamour in there line of work.  I am so impressed with how knowlegable they are and how much they care.  Today, the hospital's chaplain came for a visit.  Such a breath of fresh air!  Prayer comes in many forms apparently.  Just being here feeling the empathy and compassion is all a part of God's plan.