July 11

So I woke up this morning to a phone call from my sister. She was wondering if I had checked in w/ the hospital yet---something I do every morning to see how my fathers night was and then I report to her and my mom---it's hard for my mom to make that call. So I got up while the house was still quiet and came downstairs with my husband. He had opened the door to the side porch so we stepped outside. It was one of those perfect summer mornings, temperature was just right, nice breeze, birds chirping, sun (FINALLY) shining and it smelled so good out there. It was the kind of morning that made me wish I drank coffee and read the newspaper so I could sit out there and do just that. Then I thought of my dad and how he'd love to do that and then I thought of something my mom told me he said every morning to her---be it 20 below zero or raining.... "good morning--look at this beautiful day God has given us". I couldn't help but think it was going to be a good day!

The phone call to the hospital was good news. His nurse said he had a great night, he was moving his right arm a bit and that his ICP (brain pressure) was at 2. WHAT? Are you kidding me? Our visit today was good. Dare we say he's turned a small corner? We walked in to find him w/out a single tube on his face and looking much more relaxed and comfortable!!! He is still not awake but he is breathing completely on his own. Every once in a while he forgets (he has been on a ventilator for 9 days) and that's a bit scary but he gets it right back. He was lifting his right arm up and moving it, moving his big toe on his right foot, his shoulder and his head. Lots of swallowing, moving his mouth and steady breathing when I read to him from his bible again. His fever was down, his swelling near the bone flap was down, his blood pressure is still a bit high but much better than yesterday. No results from the neurological tests yet.

Let's hope and pray that this is the first of many good days on his road to recovery. We know it's going to be a really long road but we've all signed up for the ride.

Thanks again to all of you who are reading this and praying for him. Please, if you're reading, leave a comment. I know when my Dad is well he will love to read about his journey back to us and to see how many people were praying for him!

Also, thank you to all of you who are visiting us at the hospital. It means so much to the entire family. If you haven't stopped by but want to, please do. We'd love to see you. The waiting room gets lonely sometimes and the clock ticks slowly.

July 10

Today they put the trach and feeding tube in. Both procedures went well. My father seems much more comfortable w/out those tubes in his throat. We didn't get the full results from the EEG and the other tests BUT they did tell us that from the EEG they looked for seizure activity and found none--which is good. We are not anticipating any other results until Monday as it's the weekend-- but you never know. His blood pressure is still high and they seem to be having a hard time controlling it. He still has the fever too but his lungs still look good and so far the cultures don't show anything growing. No other changes. I will report again tomorrow. Today was a frustrating day. It's so hard to get answers from anybody at the hospital.

July 9th

Today was a long and stressful day. It started w/ a phone call to the ICU where they told me his blood pressure was still very high and had been throughout the night. The nurse said it would be a "busy" day. She told me he had been off the sedative Propofol for 24 hours and that may be the cause of the high blood pressure (I'm talking 180-185). They needed to keep him off sedation to do the EEG and the other tests. They only managed to get the EEG in today. Once they did that they put him back on the sedative a bit and when I left he was resting comfortably (or at least he appeared to be). His blood pressure was 135-150, his ICP (brain pressure was good) and he was calm.

They also managed to get a Cat Scan in today. The results of that were encouraging. The cortex looks good (this is the outer part of the brain that controls memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language and consciousness). The bleed is already smaller in size and being reabsorbed by the brain. The ventricles have less fluid around them and have decreased in size. His overall ICP (brain pressure) is lower. Today he responded to pain everywhere except his left hand. That said, while this is encouraging, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. The results of the EEG will give them a better idea of what's going on, although, as I mentioned before, it's not 100%. Still watching his temperature and for a secondary infection. More tomorrow.

Thanks for all the continued thoughts and prayers, phone calls, text messages and Rhonda & Ali---thank you so much for dinner and dessert the last few nights. You have no idea how much that helps after a day at the hospital.

July 8th

He has been running a fever for a few days that tylenol controls but they don't know the source of the fever. They suspected pneumonia but yesterdays chest x ray came back clear. They did another one tonight. We will see the results of that tomorrow. They want all the tubes out of his nose and throat so they will do a temporary tracheotomy and put a feeding tube directly into his stomach. He is mostly breathing on his own but the vent is giving him a little "push".

Tomorrow they are going to do an EEG, some type of nerve stimilus test and a light test to help them determine what is going "upstairs". These tests aren't 100% but they hope they will give them some useful information.

Today, we personally felt like he was more "there" than previous days. His blood pressure went up while we were in the room talking to him, he moved his mouth a lot and had a few "coughing" episodes from the tubes. They say these things can just be reflexes but but today was the first time in 5 days we saw these things.

Tonight I can't sleep. His blood pressure was high when my mom & I left and his breathing was fast. They were drawing blood to make sure "nothing was growing" (ie; infection). Tonight, like every other night, I pray to God that he makes it! I pray for him, for all of us who are missing him and especially my mom.

My Father's Faith

About 7 years ago he felt something missing in his life. He found God. He initiated the RCIA process at the Catholic Church and made his confirmation at the Easter Vigil. His faith is strong. He teaches Religion and is very active in the Church. He is 100% sure of what's on the other side. His bible is in his hospital room with him, well loved, duct taped spine (my father loves duct tape and uses it on everything) hand written notes throughout and treasures and trinkets in between the pages. I have been reading his bible a loud to him when I get a chance b/c he likes to read it every morning (if you know of anything I should read to him, please leave a comment). We have been able to find some peace in his faith.

Catching up on the last few days.......

Obviously they have been extremely difficult and his condition is critical. They have no idea the extent of the injury to that area of the brain. They will only know when and if the swelling goes down. They have no idea how long that might take--- a week, 2 weeks a month? The neuro team turns his sedation off every morning to see what they get and it varies each day. They know his brain stem is functioning, they know he responds to pain, when his ICP (brain pressure) goes up they can bring it down by repositioning him which means he is feeling discomfort, he has a gag reflex, his pupils are the same size and respond to light, his breathing tubes adjetate the hell out of him----all positive things but they could mean nothing. His ICP fluctuates daily between 15 and 25. His blood pressure is relatively stable unless they move him a lot, bathe him, fuss w/his tubes......then he gets worked up. All the Cat Scans show nothing new since the initial bleed. That is also good news.

We are at the hospital constantly and visit him as much as we can. We talk to him, hold his hand, pray and gather strength from each other.

July 5th---Wedding Anniversary

July 5th was my parents wedding anniversary. Needless to say, it was an extra difficult day for my mother. He was supposed to have been released from the hospital on July 4th. I assured her they would have "their day" in the future.