11/4 update

Today was a day of rest for Dad.  We are all obviously hoping he'll be more and more active (especially during our visits) but we've come to appreciate his need for rest.  We've had a lot of people with more experience tell us to expect days where he's more active and days where he isn't.

We've had some concern about his breathing.  Dad's always had some bronchial issues, and he doesn't do well sleeping on his back.  Of course, being in a hospital bed there are few options for sleeping positions.  When he's on his back we can see that his breathing is labored.  The nurses have been changing his position as much as they can every two hours.  He seems much more comfortable when they have him rolled toward one side.  Today they decided to put him on a BiPAP machine to help get some oxygen down into his lungs.  After he had been on it for an hour or so, he was breathing much easier and seemed more comfortable.  We're hoping that translates into Dad being more alert tomorrow.

While we were there one of the neurosurgeons came in to check on him, and because Dad is less active today he ordered another catscan.  He doesn't expect to see much difference from the previous catscan, and feels that this is just part of the recovery journey for Dad, but he wants to be sure nothing has changed.  He told us it could be that Dad is expending all of his energy breathing, since it's been so labored, so he is just too tired to respond when people talk to him.

BJ and I went back for another visit late this afternoon, and Dad is definitely breathing much easier with the BiPAP machine.  His oxygen levels are great, and we both felt relieved to see him so comfortable.  While we were there we told him a couple of jokes and read him some emails.  He didn't respond, but we kept talking anyway.  BJ explained how he plans to replace the kitchen faucet at Mom and Dad's condo.  I was hoping that would illicit a response, because we know he would want to give BJ step by step instructions, but it didn't.  But we'll see if he remembers that later on.

We continue to feel very good about the level of care he is getting in this ICU unit.  The entire medical team has been very supportive and informative.  They have been working hard to keep Dad comfortable and we think he is probably the most comfortable he's been since he's been there.

We're all going to be here with Mom all week.  We're trying to take care of some projects around the condo she needs done.  Since they've only been here two weeks, there are still lots of little things that need to be organized and put away, and we're glad we can be here to help.