Most recent on my dad...

Thank you to all of you for your prayers and support. I sincerely appreciate all your concern!

Much has happened since I last posted. Namely, my dad has gotten amazingly better! He was in the hospital for a week and was discharged while we were out of town on vacation. He has continued to improve and regain strength. Eating continued to be a rather significant problem. He was finally cleared to drink cleared liquids, that weren't thickened to nectar/honey consisitency, this past week. He was very happy about that. He had some problem with his esophogus such that his food wouldn't go all the way down and he would end up throwing it up. Fortunately, he was able to keep certain liquids and medicine down. There is a rather simple procedure that he may have to go through to completely resolve this for him. For now, the past two days to be specific, he has improved much on this issue. This morning he was able to eat breakfast and keep it down. My dad has lost over 30 pounds since May 19th. That's a lot of weight loss for a guy that wasn't that big to start out with.

Tomorrow my dad is going back to the hospital to have more tests done. Evidently his liver enzymes are high... not sure the implications of that, but they're checking into it. Prayers over this would appreciated.

I will try to be more diligent about my updates here... not just about my dad, but our family as well.

Again, I appreciate your prayers and support! I pray that you and yours are enjoyinig a safe and fun summer!

Sleep Deprivation.... Restless Confusion

My mom called me this morning to let me know that she had just returned home from a night at the hospital. The staff called her at home last night to let her knkow that my dad was really confused and anxious and asked her to come up. Mom went up and said he had a restless night. I asked her if she thought it was sleep deprivation and she said yes.

I've always heard jokes and complaints about not getting any rest while you're in the hospital. After watching my dad this past month, I understand it on a whole new level now. Not that anyone is doing anything wrong, they're not, they're just dong their job. But the nights I would go up and spend a couple of hours with him, he would barely be able to keep his eyes open for longer than a 2 minute period. He'd be in a dead sleep within 5 minutes and, low and behold, 10-30 minutes later someone was coming in to silence a beeping monitor, give him medicine, check vitals, do breathing treatments... you name it. There is a lot involved in taking care of a person in my dad's current state. It was painful to me to watch him only get these 30 minute at naps. We all, those of us with kids, remember those early days of infancy when our children didn't understand what it meant to really sleep. When I was getting two hours of sleep at a time, I was an absolute ZOMBIE. I think that was the hardest part about having a baby... the sleep deprivation. My dad is operating on a four week sleep deprivation. Tough.

Please pray for him, and my mom, they are both exhausted.

Thank you for your concern and prayers. They are absolutely priceless.

My Dad is feeling better.

My dad has received two units of blood and a couple of different IV antibiotics. He was due to have another unit of blood and a different antibiotic tonight. Mom said that he looks so much better. Determining the cause of his anemia hasn't been addressed. I'm not sure the implications of it all. My understanding at this point is that it's either due to a lack of producing red blood cells, or it's an issue of internal bleeding somewhere. It seems as though finding internal bleeding isn't as easy as it appears on TV med shows. And diagnosing and treating blood production issues doesn't seem to be much simpler. I am unclear as to whether this could be one of those 'wait and see' issues that may end up resolving themselves. I am assuming that they're trying to get his pneumonia and anemia addressed and stable, then moving forward from there.

My mom is still tired, but such a trooper. She is an amazing care-giver, wife, mom, and nurturer. I'm happy that my dad has her at his side. More prayers for my mom would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for your emails of concern and support. It truly is overwhelming to receive the love and concern from so many. For now, there really is nothing that can be done, other than prayer. Wait and see is where we're at, I think.

Again, thank you all so much for your care and concern! What a blessing you all are in our lives!

Many hugs to you and yours,
Jenny