November 25, 2012 - Whispers

Whispers

There are lots of reasons to whisper ... To share secrets ... To not disturb others ... To allow others to sleep ... And, to be heard. They say if you truly want to be heard, speak softly, forcing other to really listen. For some, though, whispering is the only way to be heard. Take dad, for example ... Ever since Friday, November 9th, (Actually, October 31st when they put the ventilator in) dad hasn't been able to talk due to having a trach. We have told him that after speech therapy he will be able to cap off the trach and he will be able to speak. This is all assuming that radiation and targeted therapy shrink (and annihilate!!!) the tumor on his left vocal cord. 
Christy and I have been working very hard to try to read dad's lips and understand what he's trying to say to us. His writing is shaky, but I've done okay trying to read it. We have all resigned to the fact that communication will be challenging, but something happened overnight. We are not sure what, or how, or when, but somehow dad figured out how to whisper and be heard! 
Mom and I went back up to see him last night after everyone left. We didn't stay long, but we didn't want to break our promise by not going. He was awake and happy to see us. He wanted us to go on home because it was late, so we left after about ten minutes. 
This morning we went back up to see him. We noticed that there were actually audible sounds coming from dad ... He was whispering and was extremely clear in what he was saying!! 
He asked us a couple of questions several times ... Have we seen any doctors today? ... When is he going to Asbury?
He's also not trying to spit out long sentences, rather saying short phrases and one word comments ... Any news? Where's Bill? How's weather? Spill (when he drops ice chips in the bed) Hot. Cold. Ice. And a few more. Christy told him what the lottery is up to now and he actually whistled!
Dad is ready to be somewhere else and is probably ready to be doing something else ... Anything other than laying in a hospital bed, I'm sure! He has a few medical issues that need to be addressed, but we are hopeful they will be handled quickly and that everything can start moving forward at a quicker pace. No matter what, he has been in the hospital for over a month now, so lots of therapy will be in order. They say for every day a person is in bed, three days of therapy are needed. At that rate, he already needs three months of therapy, and his stay in bed isn't over yet.
Dad has now had 5 (of 35) radiation treatments and 2 (of 6) rounds of targeted therapy. I see the beginnings of redness on his neck and a couple of places on his skin that indicate the chemo is working. The redness is from the radiation and is expected to become quite red like a severe sunburn with peeling. His throat is expected to get sore, too. The spots on his skin are actually a good sign ... that means the chemo is working, according to his oncologist!
Tomorrow and Tuesday will be super busy days. We have lots to do before Conrad and I go back home early Wednesday morning. In ways it feels like I've been here forever, but in ways it feels like my work here is nowhere near done. Are we ever really done? Nope!
We're making giant strides along with baby steps, but so far it seems it has all been forward progress. We cannot wait to hear dad's voice again, but for now ... We're glad to hear him whisper.