Saturday Update

We were able to go and see dad today and it was so much fun. (Sounds odd I'm sure). We arrived at the tail end of his physical therapy. It was the first time for us to see him in actual pants (sweatpants) a shirt and he had a camo baseball cap on backwards. He was in his wheelchair doing a workout on his arms. Of course David saw ALL the balls and was able to play catch with pawpaw some also. Although it almost seemed unreal to see him in a wheelchair he looked natural in it also (hard to explain). I was impressed at how well he was able to get around in the thing. We also got to see him get into his bed from the wheelchair by himself, that was an exhausting ordeal, but he did it. He said it really hurt his body to strain like that with using his arms to throw his legs over...but we were glad to see that he could do it....and was trying.

He is soooo skinny! We would always say before how thin he was and never gained lbs...he was overweight then compared to know.

His stamina is as expected still low, therapies are scheduled out off and on through out the day, still having nausea off and on, extremely light headed if he tries to sit up or move himself up to fast. Still having to be catherized every 4 hours, and things stand the same on little muscle control/feeling from the mid chest down. He has all bandages off his trach area...it looked GREAT! He really does like it at TIRR, and as of now has a "good ol boy, biker" roommate.

We are still encouraging visitors as much as possible. Even if dad is in therapy, it is great for him to know that you are there, and great for mom to have the company. On Sat they do half the therapy and on Sunday there is no therapy at all. From what I can kinda tell, during the week therapies seem to end around 4. Mom has been getting up there around 11am.

A couple of friends took mom out for a "girls night" last Wed evening (dinner, hang out time) and that was such a blessing to her! She needs that type of thing to feel human, normal, rejuvenated, etc. So basically we are doing a call out for "come one, come all" to anyone that could have a "time out" with mom. Mom has thankfully been real good about saying when is a good time or not (as best as she can) on when she can leave dad. I know that we are asking a lot from friends and family with the juggle of visiting dad and also spending time with mom....but this seems to be so important. We as her kids can only do so much, and honestly having other people outside of us kids for her to talk and hang out with is what she needs.

Thanks again for all the prayers. They are hoping to find something out about the MRI at the first part of next week. We are praying that God directs the doctors on what needs to happen with dad as a result of the MRI. They LOVE his Dr. there!! Praise God!

God Bless!

New Room / Number

Dad got moved to room 402A, and his new direct number is 713-797-7403.

Apparently he was quite nauseous today, so the OT people put him in a wheelchair and took him outside. Of course, this was the first time he's been outdoors in 11 1/2 weeks, so he LOVED it! The OT folks left him, and when he and Mom got back to the room, Mom realized there was no one there to help him back into bed.

Mom left to get someone, and couldn't find anyone. When she got back, he was in the bed and was heaving his legs into position on the bed! He had used the techniques that OT has been showing him for wheelchair stuff. Mom went and told the doctor, she was so proud...and the doctor was impressed--but said, "OK, but we don't really WANT him doing that right now, especially unsupervised." But, the doctor wasn't mad, just wanting him to be safe.

Thursday

Spoke with Dad last night, and he said that TIRR is "awesome." He really likes it there, as the environment is very positive, the staff friendly and helpful, and they respond to him immediately if he hits the call button. Even the food is good! They encouraged him and Mom to attend the Tuesday collaborative meeting they hold between all the doctors on his case. This certainly helps them understand what everyone's concerns are, how they are making decisions, etc.

Dad's doing several hours of PT, OT, and wheelchair time every day. Tuesday he was in his wheelchair almost ALL day, although Wednesday not too much.

Ultimately, he will not likely get to stay at TIRR for very long due to Medicare issues...but we are praying that the Lord will have him get the care he needs at the places he needs it, when he needs it. Nothing is too complicated for Him...even though we are sometimes overwhelmed with the complications. Keep praying for Mom's health, strength, and peace...as she is dealing not just with Dad, but her normal health issues and also her mother's health (which is NOT good currently).

10 Weeks! Prayer NEEDED

Can't believe it, but it has been 10 weeks in the hospital! Ugggh. Dad got his first REAL bath/shower on Sunday afternoon, and he said it felt wonderful. TIRR is so much better than Kindred, it's a shame he couldn't have gone over sooner. When he hits the call button, they pop in within a minute! And the food is 10x better there.

Also, M. and Mom told Dad the entire story of what happened the day he went into the hospital. The losing pulse 7 times over a 2.5 hour period, being dead for 10 minutes, etc. etc. He took it very well, and we just told him that no matter what happens, we are praising God that he is still alive and with us...and that God obviously has something more in store for him. He agreed.

Today, we got some concerning news. The doctors and therapists at TIRR said that they think there is a strong possibility that Dad has spinal cord damage due to neurological damage from the lack of oxygen to the brain for 10 minutes. They think this may be why he has not been improving much on moving his legs, and has no control of his sphincter (and some bladder issues too). Therefore, they are going to schedule him for an MRI of his spinal cord...but they have to do it at another hospital since they do not have MRI's at TIRR.

Also, a doctor saw the sore on the back of Dad's head that has been there for probably 8-9 weeks, and said, "That doesn't look good at all." Mom said, "YES!!! FINALLY someone is going to look at it!" The doctor said she may get a dermatologist to come and look at it, and possibly do some tests. For those who don't know, they've been saying "this is just a bed sore"...but it has made the top part of his head tingly-numb, and hasn't gotten any better.

While we know everyone has been diligently praying for Dad over these last 2.5 months, we are asking for additional prayers on his spinal/neurological issue, and the sore on his head. We pray that the Lord continue to strengthen him, that rehab would increase his muscle control, and that any issues that are needing to be addressed are found quickly. Lastly, we're not sure how long Medicare is going to let him stay in TIRR, as we've been told it may only be about 18 more days. Please be praying he gets to stay wherever it is he needs to be, for as long as needed!

A busy weekend...

Dad was moved yesterday around 3:45 to TIRR (one of these days I'll figure out how to spell it). Mom and dad both seem very please with the care dad has been given, and dedicated amount of therapy and assessment and very fast response to the call button. Praise God!!! I hope that this continues. Dad will have a roommate and he says he is okay with that and for mom not to spend the extra money for a private room. The roommate that was in there yesterday has moved out, so a new one will be coming soon.

We also got the office moved today...Thank You sooo very much to the ones that helped, it was truly a blessing!! Thankfully we had enough help that we were able to get it all in one trip and it all fit the way we had imagined upstairs at my parents house.

A lot of good stuff has happened this weekend, and we are all exhausted! Praise God though!

Please keep up the prayers for dad's recovery and the care he will be receiving at TIRR. Also please keep in your prayers that he is able to stay there as long as he needs to (there is a fast turn around rate) and he is able to make progress without any set backs. Thank you so much! God Bless!!!

Dad is moving around 3 today

I just got a call from mom and she said they are suppose to move dad at 3pm today. When we know more, we will post more.

Thanks for the prayers with this transition.

Dad is Moving...

Dad is moving to TIER any time now. We are just waiting for when a bed becomes available. All I know is that it is still somewhere in the medical center and suppose to be the best of it's kind.

Also they took out dad's urinary cathater and things seem to be going well.

When we know more about the move we will let you guys know.

Please pray that this transition is a smooth one and all goes well, etc.

God Bless!

Finally an Update...

I'm so sorry for this long delay. I have been up at the office sometimes multiple times a day getting it ready for the move home and my brother has been out of town.

Here is just a short update of the little I know:

• Dad has been feeling better with his nasea and when I talked to him yesterday evening he said he hadn't had any that day...first day in about 5 or 6.
• They put him in a wheelchair and let him use his arms to stroll around the halls. He really enjoyed that, gave him a sense of mobility and independence he hasn't had in a long time. It seemed to wear him out but in a good way.
• I do not know how his blood cultures have come out, I will try to find that out today.
• Mom is still in the process of figuring out where dad should go next. He is suppose to move to a "Skilled Nursing Facility". Thanks big time to Cherie for helping mom out with most of this.

We are trying to sell 3 of dad's big filing cabinets (4 drawer, 36" wide) if you happen to know of anyone or a business that may be interest, please let someone in the family know. We really don't want to have to move those home, mom doesn't have the room.

Please continue praying for the family, we are all wore out with the events of moving the office, finding a new place for dad, MeeMaw (mom's mom) they are saying she needs surgery on her back...or live her life on strong pain meds, and of course just everything going on with dad himself and his recovery.

I'm so sorry this email doesn't have more detail but I have been sleeping, eating and breathing the office all week.

God Bless!

Update on Dad

Just a short update that dad is nauseated again and not feeling well. He is still swollen and back to having a hard time eating, can't move around to do therapies, etc. Please keep all this in your prayers and we feel like.."here we go again".

Also they told mom yesterday that he has to be moved...he has been there long enough for insurance, etc to say he has to move. Please pray as mom is now having to find another place. The case worker said for her to look for a "skilled nursing facility" instead of just a rehab facility with him still not doing very well.

Thanks for all the prayers!!!

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Dad made some great progress today. He stood up on his own two feet (actually, he had on his "new" Converse All-Star high tops) for 30 minutes without resting! Better yet, he said that it was mostly all him, with the apparatus keeping him from falling down. He had to use his arms a lot to stay up, so they got a bit of a work-out too.

Also, they took out his tracheotomy today! YEA!!! There is just a dressing over the stoma now, and they are going to let it heal up.

Dad' stomach is still very distended, but he said it's not hurting. Some of that is from the C. Diff and the lack of protein in his system. Also, something we haven't been mentioning is that Dad's left leg is quite swollen and has been for weeks. This is the leg with the blood clot, but his right leg is swollen too, just not nearly as much as the left. Please be praying that his kidneys continue to heal and pull-off the fluid like they need to, as well as he get all his protein and other blood-work vitals to where they need to be.

Thurs addtion...for the addicts

Please understand, those who are "addicted" to this Blog are greatly loved, admired, and appreciated by the whole family...it was simply a joke, as there's not a lot to report today.

A very sweet, long-time friend, volunteered to sit with Dad today while Mom was taking care of HER mom. While Dad is doing well, the reality is that he gets better attention and care from the hospital when people are with him (and Mom is less stressed about him while she's away). The hospital workers know they're being watched, and that detailed reports are being relayed to Mom. Heh, heh. So we've appreciated everyone who has assisted in this time-consuming way. So many have blessed us these last 8+ weeks, it's very humbling.

Dad did very good today, ate most of his meals, and was quite busy with therapy. He stood up in the torture device for about 4 minutes, then 2 minutes, then again for about 3 minutes. He didn't seem impressed, but I told him that only two days ago he had only lasted a total of 4 minutes...today was 9. That's more than double! They also had him in the therapy chair for a couple hours. I wonder why they decided to do that all of a sudden (see previous post).

Nurse said they'll only be taking blood analysis about once or twice a week, so won't know what his protein levels are until the next go-round (whenever that will be). Continue to pray for his recovery, strength, bowel and urinary control, and for Mom's health too.

M's additions...Mon thru Wed

Not only has Dad been recovering, but Monday he sat on the edge of his bed for 18 minutes doing his Occupational therapy...and didn't fall forward or over. In fact, he did exercises requiring him to go to each side onto his elbow, then back up. He said it was hard, but he was VERY proud.

On Tuesday, Dad stood up in the medieval torture device (not really, but looks like one) for about 3 minutes. Today, he stood up about 4 minutes, sat down a few minutes, then stood up for another 2 minutes. I did question a nurse as to why they've never sat him up in the special therapy chairs like they did at Methodist (for hours at a time, no less).

With all the good news, PLEASE KEEP PRAYING, as Dad is still very sick. My guess he has lost 40 pounds...and he didn't have much to lose in the first place. He needs lots of healing, and certainly the protein levels need to go up.

Praise God!!!

I just talked to mom and they received good reports from the doctor tonight:

• So far all three of the infections he had last week are coming up negative with the new cultures!!
• Doctor also said that a person's protien level should be around 3.something...well dad's was at 1.5 not typical at all for the stuff he likes to eat. The doctor said though that this can happen when someone has diahrea like he has for a couple of months now.
• Dad's diahrea is also doing better. Instead of multiple times an hour, it is now every few hours and getting a better consistancy. (I know to much information, but I don't know how else to word it right now).
• The doctor also said that he believes the swelling is from the lack of protien and as soon as that gets under control then the swelling will also.
• Dad's white blood cell count was obviously high with all the recent set backs. It was at 31 now it is at 17. It needs to be lower, but we are encouraged that it has dropped that much already.
• Mom said that dad looked better this afternoon then he has in the last week.

As you can imgine we are all extremely excited with the good news, and the answer to prayers! Praise God!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!

Monday/Tuesday Update

I don't have a lot of detail, but this is what I know:

• He is having swelling/bloating and the doctors are trying to find out why. They took some more blood samples yesterday to see if anything comes up. They also took him off the liquid drip. Also did an X-Ray of his stomach and it came back normal. Swelling start with this stomach, yesterday his knees, and not sure if anywhere else today. I do know that it hasn't gone down any.
• He is still able to eat and drink some and that overall seems to be doing better and better.
• Doctors said that staph at this point is almost gone.
• Doctors also said that the remission/recovery from the C-Diff is making great progress.
• Dad said today that he was able to do some occupational therapy.

Please keep in your prayers the samples they took yesterday, the swelling, dad's overall strength, recovery from infections, etc. He is still feeling very sick and not at all feeling good/normal, but he is recovering from everything he went through at this time last week.

Thank you a million times over for all the prayers and support!!! God Bless!

Sunday Update

Just a short update about today. This morning was kind of rough as dad didn't feel well and his stomach was really extended. He had a few different doctors come in and look at him, they took an x-ray of him, but as of 3 this afternoon they were not sure what the problem was. The x-ray came back normal, so they were still trying to figure it out. He is slowly able to eat some again, which is a great thing to see.

He is talking more and will talk on the phone and is back to visiting some. Mom could really really use the visits especially. She is facing the reality that life is going to be very different now in all aspects of it and it is hard to swallow. She is being very strong through this whole thing and being nothing but strong in front of dad, but give her a hug long enough outside of the room and you will see some of how hard this really is. I know she would love to see a friendly face at any time. If you want to call and make sure she is there, feel free, or you can just show up. Guaranteed that dad will be there. ;-)

Please continue the prayers listed previous and also that if something is wrong with his stomach that the doctors will figure it out. God Bless!

Friday / Saturday morning

Sorry for missing yesterday, but it's getting increasingly harder for us post updates. Plus, the ups and downs of a day of recovery begin to sound the same after awhile.

Dad felt much better Friday, and was able to eat most of his meals. His fever was only 99.1 or so, when he had it. He sounded better than he had for the last 4-5 days. I just called him this morning (Saturday), and he sounded WAY better...even than Friday. He said he didn't think he'd be nauseous today at all.

Infectious Diseases doctor said the problem with his infections are that the antibiotics he needs to treat his urinary and staph infections, kills the "good" bacteria that is needed to fight the C. Diff. So, they're going to do the shortest possible run of antibiotics for those, then focus on the C. Diff. Dad's stomach was more distended Friday, but wasn't hurting.

As for contagions...the C. Diff. and Staph are contact-borne diseases. If you visit Dad, make sure you clean your hands first, wear gloves if you want to touch him or adjust the sheets, etc., and then make sure to wash your hands with the soap in the bathroom in the room afterward.

DAD'S PRAYER REQUESTS: Dad specifically asked on Friday night that people pray for healing from the staph and C. Diff, but also that he would gain control over his bowels and urinary tract (has not had control since hospitalization). It's frustrating for him to have to be cleaned every hour or so, and it usually takes a long time before they get to him...don't want bed sores and other complications from not being cleaned-up fast enough. Plus, the urinary infection is likely from having the catheter in.

Final Thursday Update from Doctors

I just got off the phone with mom and here is where things stand:

• He does NOT have a parasite, although
• He does have a staph infection (there was a miscommunication with the parasite and it ended up being staph) or sometimes they are calling it a blood infection.
• He has a urinary infection
• He has a resistant form of C-DIFF. The doctor said they just came out with a new medication to treat the resistant form that has gotten good results. Doctor said that it will still take about 3-4 days before we notice a difference.

Needless to say he is very very sick right now and at times this afternoon was just in bed moaning. He still only has mobility with his arms and now that he is so sick it's delaying good rehab of his legs. He is not up to visitors right now and now won't talk on the phone either. Although, if you want to call and talk to mom you can try.

Mom is going to ask the doctor in the morning where we stand with things being contagious. From what we know so far the C-Diff is not air born and of course the UTI isn't, but we aren't sure about the staph. My understanding is that most staph are contagious. Mom is going to ask when we are in the clear for visitors because I know that mom could use the support, but we don't want anyone getting sick either. Thankfully a very good family friend that use to live across the street from us when I was growing up (she now lives in Louisiana) is in town until Sunday. Praise God for this timing because mom really really needs it!!!

Please pray for full recovery, dad's strength mentally, physically and spiritually to fight through all this, and the strength and well being of mom.

If you haven't read the comment by Cherie on the previous post, feel free, it has some info also.

God Bless!!!!

Added Information to Blog Below

I just hung up from mom and she said that dad tried to eat a little bit yesterday but threw it up, and is having those same feelings today. She said that he ate part of one saltine cracker a little while ago and so far that is staying down.

Additionally, the doctor did additional blood testing and he came out positive for a Parasite. His doctor said that he was going to meet with an infectious disease doctor and come into dad's room any minute now to talk with them.

Please add to your prayers the parasite.

Dad is Having a Hard Time

Can you please pray for dad and mom. Dad has been having a hard couple of days with continuation of the horrible nausea. He isn't wanting to eat because he feels so sick, yet if he doesn't eat then the C-Diff, Flagyl and pain medicine (taking as needed) will only make him more nauseated. This is a horrible cycle to be in and mom is doing everything she can to get him to eat and drink, but you can only make a person so much. He has not eaten more then a couple of bites of food in the last couple of days.

Two doctors are going to check into maybe sending him back to Methodist today. Please Please pray for dad's health and determination to eat and drink to break the cycle and for the wisdom of the doctors and mom on if he should be moved.

Thank you so much for this immediate prayer request. I will post again as soon as we hear something from the doctors on the decision.

Hard Morning for Dad

I talked to dad around noon and he has had a very hard day. He said that he has had horrible nausea. They gave him some pills earlier this morning (after the supervisor had to be called again because the nurse wouldn't go in there...he was by himself), but it didn't touch it. He said that he was going to call and ask for the shot when we hung up, hopefully he will get it in a timely manor.

Please keep up the prayers. He is exhausted and tired of being sick and feeling so horrible. He is rebuking the infection and praying for some relief himself as he is laying there in bed. I told him that we had an army out there praying for him and his recovery.

Thank you!

A Small Bit of Good News

I talked to dad tonight and he said that they started him on an IV of fluids this evening. He said that his mouth and throat already feel better and he also thinks it is helping with the diahrea. They had to give him some pain medicine which made him very sleepy, so he was hopeful that he would get some sleep tonight. I was encouraged to hear in his voice how encouraged he was about the IV helping some.

Thank you so much again for all the prayers. Please continue to pray that he is able to get rid of the infection quickly and start to feel better.

Update

I talked to a dear friend of ours that is up with dad today while Mom is with MeeMaw. He was able to talk to the nurse some and get some additional information. The nurse said that dad drinks a full glass of water with his pills, and drinks tea with meals. He doesn't drink much in between, but it was nice to know that he is drinking some. Nothing taste or sounds good to him right now so it's hard for him to drink the water so we have some other options, and we are going to try those.

They said that it could take a couple of weeks before he will really start to feel better with his intestinal bacterial infection (C-DIFF), but signs of having this are: nausea, loss of appetite, diarrhea, weight loss, and some others. I am hopeful that once the medicine can start working, then we will start to see improvements in these areas and then we can see more signs of improvements over all.

Please pray that the meds will start to work asap and dad will start to notice a difference with feeling better. The infection is bacterial.

Tuesday: added prayers needed

Dad had a very hard night last night, with diahrea at the least every 2 hours, sometimes more. He has had diahrea even back in methodist and there have been no answers on why this isn't getting better. Finally today they told mom that he has an intestinal infection and that they are putting him on an antibiotic and flagile (sp?). He is also not drinking hardly anything, so there is a concern for dehidration.

When dad was in Methodist their personal internest would come every few days and see dad and talk to us about everything that was going on, sumerize it, and put it in normal peoples terms. We have called on her to come and do this again and see if he needs to be placed in a hospital room at Methodist (not neccessarily back into ICU, just back with closer care). Please pray that God gives direction on what would be best for dad.

Thanks so much!

About Monday

I'm so sorry I am just now posting about Monday, on Tuesday morning.

I talked to mom last night and she said that overall the day went better. Dad seemed a little stronger (although overall still not feeling good), the nurses were much better, and his main doctor was more attentive. Praise God!! Now if we can just keep this kind of care going.

Only issue I heard about was around mid-day dad's heart rate was up to 130 and they were having to give him medicine to bring it back down. Which my understanding was that he was on strict meds to keep his heart rate regular, so not sure why he didn't have the medicine already. Something else to check into.

Mom had a check up apointment with one of her doctors yesterday morning and come to find out her doctor went to college with my dad's doctor at Kindred. Long story short, my mom's doctor ended up calling my dad's doctor while my mom was in his office and talked to him about the connection they had with the family.

I talked to dad yesterday and he seems real discouraged at how long it is taking him to get his strength back. I was able to talk to him about how far he has come especially with his upper body strength, the baby steps he has made with his legs and just encourage him overall. He knows there are going to be tons of baby steps along the way that will all come together in the end, although when he is living it every night and day and doesn't remember most of the first month it's hard for him not to get discouraged. (as expected)

Please keep up all the prayers for dad, mom the family and everyone else involved. We are praying for another good day today. In addition, mom has another doctor's apointment with MeeMaw this afternoon, please pray for the doctor's wisdom.

God Bless!

A Hard Sunday

Today started out horrible! Dad had to call the nurse in to be cleaned up and apparently his nurse was horrible. Mom got a call after she left dad's room (the call was from dad) and dad told her how the nurse literally threw him around and tossed his legs this way and that and that she was very rude and defensive. Wouldn't even let him talk or answer the phone. Mom told dad to call the supervisors number immediately. Apparently the person dad talked to didn't say anything about it. Well mom then called and spoke her mind and was transfered to another supervisor and spoke her mind some more and told them that the nurse was to never step into dad's room again for as long as he is in there. (Mom was still at home at this point). When she got up there she was charging right up to the nurses station and was intercepted by who was now dad's new nurse...and they talked some.

So that was the morning....and of course it just gets better.

Apparently the nurse he ended up having overdosed him on his anti-nausia shots and gave him two along with some other medicine (not sure what the other one was). Mom had to call again the supervisor as dad was turning all kinds of flush colors and feeling very sick. She was told his dr. was in the building making rounds, which of course it took him a good while to come to dad's room. Dad took most of the day to recover from it, they didn't do anything, just let it work itself out of his body. This was all around lunch time.

It was also either lunch or dinner that dad choked on some food while eating with his trake. Mom said it was very scarry.

Although dad looks better, he still feels horrible! He has come a long way over the last 7 weeks, that's for sure but his body is still very sick. He still feels very bad and the doctor has given us a name for what he has, although I have researched this, mom does not know the details yet, so when she is informed then we will let everyone know. He is very week, has muscle atrophy and just over all feels crappy...and cant get better. Overall...all of the time his body still feels very week and sick.

Having said that...having visitors for a short amount of time has been good for him because it is a small amount of the day to get his mind distracted...it also helps mom tremendously! He is still in room 410 and if you call Kindred's Number at 713-790-0500 as soon as the lady starts to talk you can press 5410 and it rings in his room. If you go to visit there is free parking underneath the building and you just have to tell them dad's name and room number and they will let you in.

Today was a hard day for mom and dad...harder then usual, obviously. Please continue prayer for his health and for doctors to figure out a way to get him feeling better. Also please pray for the favor of the nurses and for the nurse to be caring, faithful to respond to the needs and gentle. If you can also pray for wisdom of all the doctors and that everyone working for/with dad at the hospital to be blessed in their lives also.

Thank you all again for all the prayers and support. Please keep my brother and his family in your prayers as a cold his making the rounds. Please additionally keep my brother in your prayers and he has taken over many of the "jobs" that dad had to take care of mom. ''

Oh yeah...Mom's cell phone isn't working right now so you can't reach her this way.

January 2nd, Overall Update

Well I talked to mom on the phone not that long ago and don't really know to much. Here is what I do know:

• They had to put dad's urinary catheter back in.
• He isn't eating or drinking very much because he is still nausiated so much. The doctor ordered for him to get a shot for the nausea 30 minutes before he eats, hoping that will help. We don't have faith that the nurse will remember for breakfast, we will see. Mom will be there for lunch and dinner. When he isn't nausiated he has been eating and drinking well.
• Mom had to call the supervisor again today. Apparently the lady came right down to solve the situation and was a Christian and prayed with mom and dad before she left.
• Dad did the stand up device again with full assistance...he was able to do this for three and a half minutes.

That is about it from our conversation.....hope everyone is having a good start to 2009. Thank you all again for the prayers and support! God Bless!!!!

A Good Start to 2009

Dad has had an eventful day as far is things being removed. They officially removed one of the two ports. The port used for dialysis, has been removed. The other port they use for various things like meds, to take blood, etc. so they said they will leave that one in for awhile still. I can't remember if it was mentioned before but he is completely off of oxygen, even the little thing at his nose. They have removed all catheters (sp?), although still unable to get out of bed, they felt this would be better for him and his body. I'll let you fill in the rest for yourselves there.

Mom asked that people please pray for him bowels and urination that they would regulate themselves now that the catheters are removed.

He was able to left his knees off the bed today also. He was able to do it a couple of inches and enough to see it under the covers. He was SO excited and enthusiastically talking about how it was something new today for him to be able to do.

Mom and Dad is up for visitors and it is just as much of a support for them now as it was before. Exciting part now is that people can actually see and talk to dad, and when he doses off it gives you a chance to talk to mom. Thanks for all the prayers and support!