Tuesday stuff

I got to the hospital this morning, and noticed they had fed Dad with the feeding tube last night (which they hadn't done in several days, and the nurse told me yesterday that they weren't feeding him at night so that he'd be hungry). I asked the nurse which was going on: They were supposed to feed him and they weren't, or they weren't supposed to feed him and they were today. I said, "Either way, SOMEONE isn't reading the chart!" Apparently they WERE supposed to have been feeding him all this time, and were being lax. Anyway, she said if Dad would drink several Ensure drinks a day, the doctor would probably take out the feeding tube. Dad said, "ABSOLUTELY," so they took it out today at some point, and he was greatly relieved.

They did not take out his dialysis ports today, because the Cumadin (blood thinner) levels were too high. Won't give him the Cumadin today, and should take the ports out tomorrow. Doctors said that Dad's kidneys are operating at about 50%, and aren't sure whether or not they'll get much better...but they're "good enough." We are going to keep praying they WILL continue to improve, to full restoration!

They had Dad stand up today with the help of a medieval torture rack apparatus. He did well (but it was mostly the apparatus holding his weight). His left leg is now able to be raised about 3 inches too. He is determined to get out of the hospital sooner rather than later, so thankfully he is working hard every time they have any kind of therapy session.

Lastly, they will likely take out Dad's tracheotomy tonight, and replace it with a smaller one so that the stoma can start to heal itself up. They've had the new one sitting by the bed all day, but his main doctor has to do it...and he doesn't come in until the evenings/nights. Hopefully that will be done today too!