I'm happy to report more progress with dad today. I stayed with him all night and I am still with him now. The night was a little rough but this morning is better.
We had Nurse Nancy taking care of Dad last night and she was definitely keeping dad on his toes. She kept asking him what year it was, what her name was, and why he was there. It was difficult for him to remember them each time. Sometimes he could respond correctly fairly quickly but other times he would say the wrong thing ( or say he didn't know. He fell asleep around 8:15 pm but Nancy came in and woke him up at 10 and then midnight to give him pills, ask him questions and ask him to move.
It's so hard to watch dad struggle to think and to move his legs. You can tell he gets a little discouraged at times. Last night when Nancy asked him to move his left leg (his left leg isn't doing as well as his right leg) and he wasn't able to, he said "Man, I have really gone down hill with that." The nurse was quick to tell him that he was doing just fine and that it was normal to have setbacks. It's just sad to see him get so discouraged.
Around 3:00 am dad kept trying to reposition himself and I could tell he looked uncomfortable. We had already asked him a couple of times throughout the night if he was in pain at all or not and each time he said "no." We asked him again if he was in pain and he said he was uncomfortable. Nancy asked him "on a scale from 1-10 how bad is your pain?" He didn't respond and she continued "10 being really painful and 1 not being painful hardly at all." Dad finally said "I would say it is really painful." The nurse then gave him a drug that is 10 times more powerful than morphine but the dose I think was only .2ccs. He was finally able to settle down and sleep the rest of the night. That is when I was finally able to fall asleep too.
At around 5:30 am dad got a bath and they changed his sheets. They washed his hair too which was good cause he was getting quite the bed head :)
Nancy then had dad comb his hair and he remembered exactly where to part it. She also had him brush his teeth and she only had to help him at the very end.
Dad is really strong in his upper body. At one point this morning I helped him move a little to the side by having him pull on my hand. He feels really strong! He is able to move his arms great.
This morning he has been a lot stronger mentally. I have been asking him a lot of questions. It was funny last night when the nurse asked dad if he had a dog and I said "we used to have a dog." So she asked, "what was his name?" Dad said "Sandy." Which was correct but he wasn't our most recent dog. I asked him what our most recent dog's name was and that he was a Welsh Corgi mix and it took him a minute so I told him it started with an R and he finally said "Radley."
He was able to remember his birthday more quickly, the year, where he worked and what he did, info about his kids and he has been very sharp with math questions. Of course the math questions are rather simple (2+2 equals...?).
One question that was REALLY easy for him to answer was when I asked him what his favorite college football team was. He looked at me like I was crazy and said "Well, BYU" in a matter-of-fact kind of way.
I asked dad what his address was this morning and he really had to think about that. He asked "you mean in Milwaukee?" I gave him a hint and it took him a while but he finally go it.
Ralph Sandman (dad's good friend). Came and visited this morning. Dad was glad to see him and it was fun to sit and talk with him for a while. We are so grateful for everyone's love, support and prayers for dad.
His lumbar drain is still in and it has drained quite a lot. They are monitoring that very closely to make sure it doesn't get infected. They are going to do a WBC count on it today. They said they usually don't keep it in for over 5 days due to the risk of infection.
Dad was able to wiggle his toes a little better this morning, he has great feeling in his legs and feet but he is having difficulty lifting them. He gets discouraged when he tries so hard and it barely moves. Overall the Dr who was testing him sounded like he was happy with how dad is doing.
He has had his lungs listened to multiple times and each time they say it sounds good. He also is doing really well sucking in on the breathing thingy that helps with not getting pneumonia. He still sounds hoarse and has a bit of a cough but he can talk even clearer today.
Dad has been quite thirsty all night and this morning. His mouth feels dry from all the medications he is getting. He keeps asking for more ice but the nurses have been a little wary to give him too much because they don't want him to choke and aspirate to his lungs and they are trying to reduce the amount of fluids in his body (he has too much liquid in his body). It seems like he would just eat ice non stop though if we let him.
Christian emailed and said he just booked a flight to come see dad. When I told dad that Christian was coming, he smiled and got a little emotional. I then read him an email from Ahren and her family and he smiled again.
The nurse also removed the outer most dressings on the two incisions on his neck and the two by his groin. Another step in the right direction.
The next big step is the swallow test. They just wheeled him out of the room to go do it. They will take him to another room to x-ray him while he eats something. If the results from the test are positive, he will be able to drink more and possible eat. I asked dad not too long ago if he is hungry and he shrugged and said "not really." Which in some ways is good, I am glad he isn't really hungry until we find out if he is swallowing correctly and actually can eat.
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