Thursday April 30

Today makes 6 weeks that dad has been in ICU. Can't believe it's been that long. But some days it does seem like a lot longer.

Today when I went to see dad I got a huge shock. A good shock. They had dad sitting in a chair. Not the hospital bed made into a chair but a real chair! I couldn't believe it

I can tell by looking at his arms and hands that he has lost a lot of weight. He seems so frail in a way. He hardly has the strength to do much of anything. I had put a pillow in his lap an he couldn't pick it up. So he will have a lot of rehab to do.

The doctor's orders is for dad to be up in the chair 2 times a day. Today he was in the chair for about 2 hours. The nurse said the time will just depend on him and how he does each time.

Today he was also on oxygen for most of the day. After they got him back into bed they put him back on the vent so he could get some good rest. Getting up into the chair (and I have no idea how they did that), sitting up for 2 hours then back into bed must have been exhausting.

Nurse A said that she thought dad didn't like being put back into the bed. I so can't wait until he can talk. He tried again today to tell me something and I just have no idea what it was and the nurses didn't either. When the nurses tell me that he wants to go home or didn't want to be back in bed lets me know that if he feels something strong enough he can manage to get his point across. This is a good thing.

We still have a long way to go so keep those prayers going up for dad and me.
And don't forget to say a prayer for Aunt Betty. She is home from the hospital but she's weak.

Kathy

Tuesday April 28

Dad started out really great today. When I got to the hospital today they had dad's hospital bed made into a sort of chair. I had no idea they could get the bed in such a shape (I found this drawing connected with a patent, couldn't find a real photo). They also had dad off the vent and onto just oxygen. Nurse P said that dad was asking about me and some other stuff that Nurse P couldn't figure out what dad was trying to say.

After I was there for a little bit dad started trying to tell me something. I could not figure out what he was trying to say. Several nurses tried to help me but we just couldn't figure out what he wanted. As time went on the more agitated he became. Long story short......I left because I thought maybe me being there and not able to understand him was upsetting to him. I called a few hours later and Nurse P said they got him calmed down but then he got agitated again and it kind of cycled like that for a bit so they finally decided to put him back on the ventilator and that helped him to calm down.

Dad's blood pressure went really high sometime this afternoon so they had to give him something for that. Oh and they gave him some Xanax earlier today which helped to calm him down (this was before I got to the hospital). So they are trying different drugs and amounts of them to try to keep dad calm without sedating him too much.

Keep those prayers going up for dad and me.
Aunt Betty is home from the hospital, but keep those prayers going up for her also.

Kathy