Monday

The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation. Psalm 91:14-16

We meant to post yesterday after church and a quick trip to the hospital, but the day got away from us. Sorry about that. Dad had a pretty good day yesterday. He is on and off the biPap machine. In between he has a mask with oxygen. The difference between the two is the pressure. The biPap machine pushes oxygen into his lung. It helps it stay open and nicely inflated. When he is on the oxygen mask, he has to breathe and work his lung.

Dad asked for the biPap machine last night at about 8 pm and just came off of it this morning at about 7 am. His first feeling when he makes the switch is panic. He feels short of breath right away. He is really "learning" how to breathe on his own. He has had a machine breathing for him for over 2 weeks now. Please pray for peace over him. Please pray that the transitions will get easier and he won't panic.

Dad is still struggling with diahrea. He and I decided this morning that they will keep giving him things to help and then, the next thing will be that he is constipated! It seems to flip from one extreme to another around here.

Dad would also like to eat something, even a clear liquid tray sounds good right now. The issue will be making sure he gets enough oxygen while he eats. They have lots of options so I am hoping that they find something that works well. I think he would feel better if he could eat some actual food.

Dad's white cell count was back at 13 today. We seem to be jumping back and forth between 12 and 13. We would like to see that go back down. He is still on 3 antibiotics. It would be nice to taper that down if they can.

The resident also asked about the insulin drip and how he handles his diabetes at home. Dad does not use any insulin at home, but we don't have any control over his "food" right now. It is all still coming through his nasal feeding tube. The resident would like to get him off of the drip but I think that would mean insulin shots. We were doing that before the vent so going back there would mean another step forward.

We are on the journey back. It is slow going but at least the path is leading the right direction. The Lord is so faithful and is holding Dad in the palm of His hand. We are so thankful for the progress that we are seeing.