Today Was a Good Day

Quick update on Dad...  They started hemodialysis today.  He tolerated it really well.  So well they thought they would try to get him off the ventilator.  They were able to remove the breathing tube this evening!  We are so excited it's finally out and he can talk!  It's killing us not being there to see him but I'm so happy knowing he's doing better!  We can't wait to see him this weekend!

As promised last night, I have pictures of Eli. His new favorite accessory are his sunglasses. He wants to wear them all the time and gets mad if you take them away! He loves them!

He even likes to wear them on top of his head like a cool dude!

He just ran and sat in front of me on the kitchen floor and posed for this picture.  Camera hog.

You've gotta love this boy!  We sure do!

Update on Dad - 3.27.11

We just got back from Little Rock not long ago.  It was a good trip.  Dad seems to be doing about the same.  They stopped the continuous dialysis on Saturday.  They are restarting dialysis tomorrow but it will not be continuous.  It's much harder on the body because it takes off the fluid so fast compared to the other.  They will be watching him closely to make sure he tolerates it.  He remains on the ventilator and sedated.  He did open his eyes and nod his head yes and no last night.  We were all thrilled to see his response to us!  All of his vital signs (including blood pressure) have been really good the past few days.  I will continue to give you all updates as I get them!

I have some recent pictures of Eli I wanted to post but my camera battery is dead.  I will upload them after the battery is recharged.  He's been a pistol lately!  Although I think he's getting a little better he still has a long way to go!  We keep joking that we are going to put him through boot camp!  HA!  I'm ready to have my sweet baby back!

Update on Dad - 3.25.11

Sorry for no update yesterday.  I worked the past two days and I was exhausted when I got home.  Dad has had two good days in a row, and we're hoping today is the third.  He's still intubated and on the ventilator.  They started dialysis on Wednesday and it seems to be doing him some good.  His labs are looking better each day.  His blood pressure has been holding it's own and he's off both blood pressure medications.  He's sedated and sleeps most of the time.  I will continue to give you updates as I get them.  We are going down there this weekend to see him again.

Update on Dad - 3.23.11

Today Dad had a pretty good day.  He remains intubated and on the ventilator.  His blood pressure has now stablized and he's off all the blood pressure medication.  They started hemodialysis today and it will be continuous for at least 24 hours.  They will periodically do blood tests to make sure he is tolerating the dialysis.  He is still in critical condition but we are thankful for good days like today!  Hopefully there will be many more of the good days to come!

Chad and I both started back to work today.  It was a little strange going back after being off for 4 weeks but it was nice to get back to our routine.  It means our life is somewhat starting to normalize.  It was extremely hard to wake up so early this morning!  That means I'm headed to bed early tonight! 

Good night, all!

Update on Dad - 3.22.11

I called this morning to get an update on Dad.  It sounds like he's taken a few steps backwards.  They had to reintubate (place the breathing tube back in) and put him back on the ventilator.  He just wasn't able to do all the breathing on his own.  His blood pressure continued to stay low so they had to max out his one medicine he was on and restart the second medicine again.  His blood pressure has stablized for the time being.  They have decided to start him on dialysis which will start tomorrow.  We always knew dialysis was in his near future but it was just a matter of when it would be started.  They have placed a feeding tube so they can start giving him some nutrition.  He spiked a fever overnight so they are culturing everything possible to see if there is another infection and where it is coming from.

I will let you all know when I learn anything new.  Keep the prayers coming!

Looking up

Just a quick update on Dad tonight...

They had a little trouble weaning him off the ventilator last night so they decided to consult a pulmonologist.  They finally got him extubated this evening!  I wish we could have seen him without the breathing tube before we left but I'm just glad it's finally out!  He has sleep apnea and sleeps with CPAP every night so they are making him wear it all the time right now.  His kidneys and blood pressure were doing better so they stopped one of the medicines to help his kidneys function (it also helped his blood pressure some).  Since stopping it his blood pressure has started to go back down.  He remains on a continuous morphine drip to help control pain.  He seems to be coming around slowly but definitely has a long way to go before a full recovery!

I'll continue to give updates every so often for those of you who are checking here for them.  Robyn and I had to come back home today.  It was so hard leaving Dad! 

Hopefully we can make it down again very soon!

Good night all!  And thanks for the prayers!  They seem to be working!  The power of prayer is amazing!