Just a quick update on everything, he has gotten some strength back but not enough to breathe on his own yet. They are talking about putting the Trach in and then some time in the near future have him to go PT. Once he has enough strength to breathe on his own then they can pull it.

I am not sure how much longer the vent can stay in at this point. It's been around 9 days now and they said pretty much no longer than 2 weeks can it be in.

They say you can talk with a Trach, how possible is that and does your voice sound normal?

I believe the difference between a vent tube and a trach tube is that the trach tube is inserted below the vocal cords (it may also be smaller). Since the vent tube goes through the mouth and down the throat, talking isn't possible. With the trach tube, the throat isn't obstructed. I don't know about the voice sounding normal - it is probably a little different, but chances are that it isn't too terribly abnormal!

Here's a link to some more information:
http://www.icu-usa.com/tour/procedures/trach.htm

Whoa, my prayers are with your father, I hope things continue to improve! :hug: