Davison online

They've been taking X-rays almost daily of Dad's internals, and he's still got some fluid in his lungs so they've decided to hold him in Intensive Care a bit longer. He spent a fair amount of time on the BiPap (breathing mask) yesterday, and he spent most of the day sleeping. I don't know that it was a step backward, but perhaps more of a plateau after a...

After a couple weeks of sedation, Dad's personality is starting to reemerge, and it's fun to see. Mom visited him this morning and asked him first thing if he knew who she was. Dad answered, "Gina Lollobrigida." While the uninitiated might think this further evidence that Dad's not yet in his right mind, Mom, Bret, and I knew immediately that he was...

If Dad were to be believed, the year is 1983 and Bret is engaged to someone named Carolyn. Bret was 11 in 1983, so we're pretty sure Dad's not quite "with it" yet. But he is waking up from time to time, and this morning he recognized me, Bret, and Mom (and likely Uncle Howard and Aunt Dorothy yesterday). So that's a good sign. His breathing is still fairly...

Dad's stable with good vitals. They were finally able to wake him a bit yesterday, meaning he opened his eyes when the nurse called his name, and he was able to respond to basic commands (i.e., squeeze my hand, wiggle your toes). They'll be keeping him somewhat sedated until they can do a tracheotomy on Saturday, then they'll dial things back so that he's...

Dad had another stable night; doctors are pleased with the progress he's making. He ran a bit of a temp (100) last night, but they gave him some Tylenol and it came back down. Cultures aren't back from the lab yet so we don't know if it's a secondary infection, but it wouldn't be unusual if it were. They've got more antibiotics they can throw at it if need...

Doctors are thus far pleased with Dad's progress. He's moving incrementally toward health, with all major body systems continuing very slow improvement. Despite remaining critically ill, he's yet to encounter any setbacks. We are thankful. They've begun giving him very slight nutrients through the feeding tube they put in during the surgery, and if he...

Dad had another stable day. His potassium and creatinine levels are both better than yesterday and he's producing urine, indicating that his kidney function is improving. They gave him a beta blocker to lower his heart rate (out of the 110 range) down into the 70-80 range, and it seems to be working perfectly. They've also reduced the amount of respiratory...

I spoke with Dad's nurse, Heather, this morning at 10:45 AM. Dad's early numbers on kidney function (specifically potassium and creatinine) are slightly improved over yesterday. That means his kidneys are working, and working marginally better than the day before. Otherwise, his condition is stable and unchanged. I hope to speak with one of his doctors...

This afternoon we spoke with a doctor from the surgical team and a cardiology resident who is consulting on Dad's care. Both said reasonably hopeful things, to the point where we're willing to consider this another "good" day. (Yesterday was a "good" day simply because the surgery went better than expected.) If Dad can string enough good days together, our...

Dr. Sheppard, a chief surgeon at OHSU, operated on my dad last night from 9:30 to 11:30. I spoke with him at 11:45 PM. The surgery was more successful than we'd hoped, and Dr. Sheppard, who has performed these procedures many times, believes that if all goes well further operations will be unnecessary. (Note however that this is not the same thing as...