Thinking about my dad....

As my dad continues to slowly heal in intensive care in a hospital in Florida, thoughts of him never leave my mind. He continues to amaze us all--including the doctors and nurses--with his determination to recuperate from three serious surgeries.

While he is not out of danger at this point, we continue to be hopeful as he makes baby steps towards his recovery. Yesterday he went an entire day without the use of the breathing ventilator! The doctors are trying to do this weaning process with cautious optimism as they do not want to wear him out. Instead, they want some of that energy to go towards his strengthening his body to get better.

They are keeping him very sedated these days, so he is sleeping most of the time. My family down there tells me that he does occasionally open his eyes...but is not really responding like he did before. This is probably the most difficult part for us right now...the inability to have him truly communicate with us.

The feeding tube is still in, and his getting the proper nutrition continues to be an issue. Every day brings new possibilities and new things to try. His doctor has not given up and says that he will use every tool that he can and try everything that he knows to help Dad get through this. This doctor is such a special and loving man and we are so appreciative to have him as Dad's caretaker.

I have made reservations to head back down to Florida next Monday through Friday to stay with my mom and go back and forth to the hospital to see Dad. I look forward to holding his hand and letting him know how much I love him...and encouraging him to continue to fight this biggest battle of his life.

The picture that is posted today was taken 5 years ago at his 85th birthday. He was a good sport as he wore the silly hat that we gave to him. Today I was thinking that his 90th birthday is now just a few weeks away and we would love nothing more than to put that crazy hat back on his head as we celebrate together...again.