Friday Morning

The last two weeks are just running together. We can't remember what day it is today or what day things happened in the past. Last night was the first night that we left Dad alone in the hospital. He was sedated because of the ventilator and wouldn't have known if we were there. We all needed to sleep in a bed.

Don checked on Dad early this morning before he had to start working. When he arrived at Dad's room, the resident for the surgeon was there. It is hard to know when the doctors will be doing rounds so it was such a blessing that Don was able to talk to him. The surgeon does not want Dad to be on the ventilator very long because it can make the lung stiff, but while he is on it, they are going to try to figure out some answers. Dad is currently on about 90% oxygen but his sat numbers are at about 100. They wanted him to be stable last night so they increased the percentage. They plan to take that down today. His lung is full of "snot" so thick that Dad can't cough it out. They have taken a couple samples but can't get bacteria to grow. They started him on antibiotics because there was a significant chance that it was pneumonia but they aren't so sure.

They plan to do a bronchoscopy which is a scope down into his chest. They did this during the biosopy of the mass way at the beginning of this journey. They also did it when they fixed his vocal chords. They want to take another look and see if they can figure out what is going on in his lung. This procedure may happen this afternoon. Please pray for answers so that they can begin implementing the solutions.

They are also considering echmo where they would take blood out of his body through a vein, oxygenate it and then return it to the body. This would take some of the pressure off of the lung but help him maintain his oxygen level. This is a pretty big, deal and probably won't happen today.

Don is working today and will check in on Dad periodically. Mom and Jen just arrived and will try to be there in case the doctors come in with any news or changes. Please keep praying with us. We have had many people send us verses on "waiting" on the Lord. It is really hard but we trust Him who holds live in His hand. We are praying for answers and healing for Dad; for rest for all of us and for peace in the midst of this very hard situation. Thank you for standing with us. Blessings.