Easter Blessing

Today was Easter Sunday, so the kids were excited that the Easter Bunny came.  Then we went to church and after lunch I went up to the hospital.  When I arrived the nurse told me that my dad was breathing on his own.  The ventilator was providing some support but essentially he was breathing on his own and that was fantastic news.  While I was there they stopped the sedation drugs so that he would wake up.  That took some time and he was pretty groggy the whole time I was there, but imagine how you would feel after being sedated into a coma for nearly a week!!

Once the sedation wore off a bit he was able to respond to commands and wiggled his toes and squeezed our hands.  Of course he could not talk to us because of the tubes in his throat, but he was able to move his head to answer yes or no questions.  He shook his head no when asked if he was in pain.  I don't know if he knew it was me talking to him or if he thought it was just another nurse, but he did respond to some of the things I said to him.  It was a busy afternoon and I stayed much longer than I had intended and even missed the steak my brother barbequed for supper.  If you don't know my brother, then you have missed out on some fantastic cooking.  I have no cooking skills because he got all of them!  So I was slightly bummed that I missed that but I also was not about to leave the hospital while my dad was awake.

Anyway, after a couple of hours his breathing became more labored and the numbers were starting to get out of the ranges they wanted to see.  They decided to sedate him again and put him back on the breathing machine.  They were pleased with the progress he made, but his lungs still need more rest.  He will rest through the night and will be woken up again tomorrow.


Another bit of information... my cousin is an xray tech at the hospital my dad is in, and she has not been doing this job very long.  However, she knew at some point she would have to xray someone that she knew and who was very, very sick.  I cannot imagine how she managed to do it but she did and I am pretty sure she will have to xray him again tomorrow.  If you know her please give her an extra big hug for what she does.  Not only is it a very hard thing to see but would be even harder to do your job when it is someone you know and love...