Rest
It's amazing what rest will do for the human body. Getting a good night's sleep is like hitting the 'reset' button in our bodies. Dad's doctor decided to put dad back on a ventilator in ICU to let the machine do the work for him so he could rest and build up much needed strength. He made the correct call.
Mom and I went in to see dad this morning. He was alert and animated and smiling. One of the nurses said he greeted her this morning and even asked her how she doing. We are taking this as a step in the right direction!
Dad wanted ice chips. That's the first time in three days he asked for them. I have no doubt his mouth was dry. The nurses had already been giving him some, but he was nowhere near done when we got there. Three cups. Three cups of ice chips is how many dad went through during our watch. Mom freaks out because he does swallow some of the water into his lungs, but he coughs it up, and that's a very good thing. His lungs are strong, as are his abdominal muscles, so I am hopeful this will help in his recovery.
Bill and Christy came up to visit, too. Christy joked with dad about his ice chips and he smiled. He smiled quite a bit this morning and looked at us in disbelief when we told him he had slept solid for over two days without any sedatives. We told him he had been through a rough week and that he's doing so much better now.
Dad needs the rest. He needs to get stronger. His body needs to recover. His lungs need to empty themselves of the pneumonia. He's on his way. By the end of the day he was getting tired and was more irritable. Our precious friend, Allicon, came to visit after her shift was over. She is such a sweet girl and dad LOVES visits from her. (Christy and I seriously want to adopt her!)
Today wasn't a day of positive progress in leaps and bounds, but we did see progress in baby steps. We will take it! We are hoping dad will be even better in the morning. The goal is to change out his current trach to a trach collar and reduce his oxygen again to ween him off the ventilator. If this is successful, he will likely go back into a room in the oncology unit to continue cancer treatments early this week.
Cancer drugs scare me. They are definitely on that big long list of things I know little or nothing about. The only experience I have ever had with chemo drugs is when my cat had leukemia and had treatments for six months. I learned a lot about the drugs during that time and was able to tell which ones worked and which ones didn't. That was back in 2000, and I'm sure things have changed drastically since then.
Dad's cancer is vastly different from my cats. With his, there is actually an area in the body that can be identified as cancerous ... His left vocal cord. Dad could actually talk a bit again today. That makes communicating so much easier for all involved. I hope he can continue to be audible because I am going back to California in a few days and I really want to be able to talk WITH him, instead of TO him on the telephone.
I got some rest last night. I actually slept till 9:45 this morning. I had strange dreams, but none were enough to keep me awake. I hope I can sleep tonight. Christy is not feeling well and really scared me earlier today. She has been resting this afternoon.
There is something else that might keep me from sleeping ... My cousin and his wife are driving over in the morning to see mom and dad. I haven't told mom and dad about the visit ... I thought a surprise might be awesome. It has been too many years since my parents have seen my cousin, and they haven't ever met his wife. Conrad and I got together with them back in September and I am extremely thankful to have been able to rekindle my relationship with my cousin, meet his wife, and introduce Conrad to them both! I cannot wait to see them both!
It's almost midnight. I hope my dad has been resting for hours and will continue to sleep until morning. I am heading to bed, too.
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