I am writing this from Jim’s room at the RML specialty hospital, watching him rest. I flew into O’hare early Sunday morning and will be leaving Wednesday night to head back to the Twin Cities. I have intentionally written these updates as a reporter. Jim’s father Joe and his wife Suzie have been giving me information and I volunteered on day 1 to disseminate the information through this wonderful platform.

This one will be from my heart. My son Bobby is leaving for his freshman year at Marquette University in Milwaukee in 3 weeks. Thirty-two years ago, Jim from Chicago and I from St. Paul met at McCormick Hall at Marquette. We lived down the hall from each other. We spent endless hours discussing and debating…everything. We lived together for the next several years. Rode Harleys across the country, which is still the best decision we ever made!
When my girlfriend broke up with me, Jim was there. When I crashed my Harley in Estes Park, Jim was there. When I needed the best man for my wedding, Jim was there. Anytime in the last 32 years that I have needed a sounding board, Jim has been there. I have always known that I was going to get honesty, never sugar-coated, although that would have been ok once in a while. I now have the awesome opportunity to be here for Jimmy.

Sunday was not a great day. Jim was fighting the vent and he kept telling me how uncomfortable he was. Finally at 6:30 pm they gave Jim something to calm him. He was asleep in 10 minutes and was still sound asleep when I left at 8pm.

Monday was a most excellent day. When I arrived at 9am Jim was awake and felt like he had a great night’s sleep. He was awake and comfortable the entire day. I was able to help him take care of a few things and we ended the day with 5 episodes of Ted Lasso.

Today, Tuesday has been a good day as well. As Jim’s brother John texted me yesterday, “4 out of 7 good days is a good week”. Progress is slow and there are some steps back, but Jim is improving. The focus at RML is laser focused on getting Jim off of the vent. This is what they do and they are the best in the business. But until that happens Jim’s life is very much like Phil Connors in Groundhog Day.

Every 4 hours Jim has a couphing machine and a metaneb treatment to loosen the secretions in his lungs followed by suction. The crud in the lungs inhibit the amount of oxygen that can get into the body. Also Jim’s diaphragm and other muscles used to breath are not all working yet. Every day the goal is to reduce the amount of work the ventilator is doing and have Jim do more of the work. The doc wants all of Jim’s energy focused on the work of getting off the vent, so there is no PT happening right now.

I can assure you that Jim’s intellect, wit and sarcasm are sharp as ever. The trach does not allow him to talk, but he is able to mouth words and I have become proficient at deciphering most thoughts. I did confuse “oxygen” for “ass” today, but averted any catastrophes.

I’ll update in a couple of days. Take care of those you love and let them know how much they mean to you.

Bob