Thursday August 13th

rehab day 71
total weeks since surgery 21 weeks.

Yesterday Mr TP and Mr MC came and installed 2 ramps to the front door of dad's house! So if dad is in a wheel chair or using a walker he will be able to get into the house so much easier. Thank so much you guys. You have no idea how much it means to me and to dad.

Dad's walking is coming right along. Therapy still won't let him walk with anyone but them but hopefully that will soon change. Finally got dad out of bedroom shoes into "real" shoes and he walks so much better with them.

That's it for now.

Keep those prayers going up for dad and me.

Kathy

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

Saturday April 11

Went to see dad today and managed to talk to one of his doctors (yeah, he has like 3 I think). Dad is doing better. They have stopped the sedation however what he gets for pain does have some sedating effect.

Dad is awake but not totally there yet. Sometimes he will follow commands and other times he won't. Dr F said this is normal. That it will take awhile for all that sedation to work out of his system.

In the meantime if you touch dad or talk to him it startles him and his blood pressure shoots WAY up. It comes back down but still......

They are slowing trying to ween dad off the ventilator. They switch it to something called CPAP for several hours twice a day. Today they are starting to cut even the CPAP off and hook oxygen up to his trachea for an hour to see how it goes.

Dr F says it will be a long process to get dad off the vent and all (or most) of his medicines, and to work on his nutrition and get his strength back. Oh and it could take a while for his mental state to get back to normal.

I was also told that it could take weeks maybe months before dad will come back home. He will more than likely have to go to a rehab place after the hospital and before coming home.

I am not going to see him tomorrow. He had such a big and tiring day today and I think he needs the rest. The nurse agrees that he seemed really tired today and when anyone talks to him or touches him his blood pressure goes up -- it will soon start to come down -- and that tomorrow they will probably try all the tests they did today the switching from the ventilator to CPAP for a few hours and then later cut all that off and try just oxygen for a little while. Today he did just oxygen for about an hour and the nurse said it was very tiring for him.

Keep those prayers going up for dad and me. Don't forget to pray for Aunt Betty who is also in the hospital.

Kathy