7/1/09

I'm sure by now many of you have seen Dad cruising around the neighborhood or talked to him yourself, but I thought I'd give a brief update to those who haven't. Dad is doing surprisingly well. He has been keeping himself busy walking several miles each day. It's been kind of funny to see my mom get worried about him and have to go hunt him down in the car! He had his first cardiac therapy appointment this morning but doesn't think he will need to continue going considering all he has been doing on his own. From what he has been told, Dad seems to be recovering really quickly. He still struggles when it comes time to rest because he feels a lot of pain changing positions and his head is still a little groggy from the medications, but overall he seems to be feeling much better. Thanks again for all the love and support. We feel so grateful to have such good friends.

6/26/09

Dad seems to have made some big strides this week. He has been up cruising around the neighborhood a couple times each day trying to strenghthen those lungs of his. They still aren't where they need to be but I'm sure there has been some improvement with all the hard work he has put forth. He has had a few good coughs since being home, which probably sounds silly, but is always good news. The more fluids he can get out of his lungs, the faster they will improve. His energy levels are still low but he seems to be motivated enough to push through them. He is determined to do all he can to recover as quickly as possible. Progress is on the rise even though this has been one long week for him. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

6/23/09

Well, Dad made it home from the hospital yesterday. He is still having his good and bad moments, which is expected of course. He got up and went on a walk this morning and needed to rest for a few hours after to build up enough energy to take a shower. Such small things really suck the energy out of him. This experience is definitely one that is requiring a lot of patience. We have to keep reminding Dad that it has only been a week! Hopefully his lungs will continue to improve. They still aren't where they need to be. Day seven down!

6/22/09

This weekend was a little bit of a roller coaster ride for Dad. He wasn't feeling well at all on Saturday morning but started to feel a little better towards the end of the day. His lungs still haven't been expanding like they should so he decided he felt well enough to really push himself and work his lungs on Saturday night. He decided to go on a walk but ended up climbing a few flights of stairs while he was at it. Although this little adventure helped his oxygen levels, his heart started to beat extremelly irregularly. The nurse ended up having to call the doctor to get Dad prescribed to a medication that would steady his heartbeat, which means he got put back on the drip. When we went to see him yesterday morning, his heart had settled and he was feeling a lot better. The doctor came in and said he would be able to go home later that afternoon when the medication was finished. Right as they were getting ready to leave yesterday afternoon, Dad got a really sharp pain in his chest. It was hurting him to breath and had him doubled over. They decided to run a cat scan on him to make sure his blood wasn't clotting anywhere. Everything looked ok when they got the results back but they decided to keep him another night to make sure everything was still looking good. Day six and seven down!

6/20/09

Yesterday was a great day. Dad seemed to have a new resolution to be more optimistic and to get his lungs taken care of. Still truckin' along. Day five down!

6/19/09

Yesterday was a tough day. Dad didn't have an appetite and was feeling nauseous all day long. He tried to force himself to eat but really wasn't all that successful. Because there was no food in his body, the pain pills were making him sick and not helping to reduce his level of pain. He got up and walked around a couple of times but didn't do any of his breathing exercises. He was out of energy and feeling a lot of pain. The nurses expressed concern with the lack of oxygen reaching the bottom of his lungs. He really needs to be coughing, walking, and doing his breathing exercises to avoid getting pneumonia.
Needless to say, by the end of the day he was feeling discouraged. Last night he was given a priesthood blessing from an elderly man who was there visiting his wife. The man was really able to empathize with what Dad is going through and gave him a special blessing. When we called this morning, Dad had already buzzed the nurse to get him up walking and eating. I know he is receiving some extra help. Day four down.

6/18/09

Dad made a lot of progress yesterday although he was definitely feeling it. The nurse said day three is usually one of the worst but that things usually start to look up from there. We are hoping what she said was true and that tomorrow will bring a little less pain. They were able to remove majority of the tubes from his body yesterday which really helped him look a lot better. He is still having a lot of drainage coming from his chest so those tubes were left in. Hopefully they will be able to remove them soon so it isn't as difficult to breath. They took him off of the blood pressure medication yesterday morning but ended up putting him back on it a few hours later. He was able to go back off it by the end of the day. Dr. Karwande came and gave him a look and said that everything was looking good. We love hearing that! Dad ate his first meal since surgery at lunch. I'm sure that hospital food really helped him regain his appetite. ;) They are standing him up a lot more to help him prepare for more activity. I'm sure they will want him comfortable with walking by the time he leaves the hospital. They finally transferred him out of ICU last night. Yahoo! They are hoping to get him out of the hospital by tomorrow or Saturday. Day three down!