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Well, according to Mom and Don, they may be transferring Dad from CSU to the rehab center as early as tomorrow!

Apparently he has been doing better with his breathing and swallowing (although there is still progress to be made). Don reports that he is much more alert today than he was early in the week. I’m sure he’d love to get out of the CSU and be able to have visitors and such. However, I’m not sure he realizes just how hard they are going to make him work in rehab…

— Rich

Saw Dad 4 times yesterday and he was awake and alert each time. He wants to get out of there, but can’t yet…

They removed the breathing tube a few days ago, but still have the feeding tube in through his nose. In fact, he’s apparently started having difficulty swallowing “correctly” (maybe because they’ve had to intubate several times over the last 2 weeks?), so there was some talk of putting a “PEG tube” in case he needs nutrition for an extended period of time while working on re-learning to swallow so that he doesn’t aspirate food and liquids into his lungs. But, before that could happen, he developed Deep Vein Thrombosis (blood clots) in his legs, so they are currently dealing with that. A speech therapist will hopefully start working with him today on the swallowing issue, and hopefully the treatments they’ve been giving him for the DVT issue will allow them to get him back up on his feet without fear of the clots causing an “issue”.

I picked up Don at the airport on Saturday evening and dropped Chris off at the airport this morning. Don will be here a week and Chris will be back early next week for another week long visit. Hopefully by the time she gets back, Dad will be in the rehab center instead of the hospital, but he’s got to get well enough to get out of the CSU first.

— Rich

Well, I just got off the phone with Chris and then the nurse at the CSU. They had to put Dad back on the ventilator again today (which means the breathing tube and feeding tube went back in). Apparently he was pretty lethargic yesterday and they had a hard time getting him to wake-up/stay awake this morning. A blood test showed that he was retaining too much CO2 in his blood because his breathing is too shallow. They’ll recheck things tomorrow and will determine then when they’ll wean him off of the ventilator (again).

Ahoy thar, mateys!

Talk Like A Pirate Day 2007 be less than two days away!

www.talklikeapirate.com

Don’t be a lubber! Tis the only day of the year that ye can be callin’ somebody a bilge rat!

— Cap’n Rich

I know there haven’t been any updates in a week – I went home on Monday and have been at work all week (although I have been calling in to the CSU once a day) to check his status.

Anyway, I visited Dad this morning and he is looking much better than the last time I saw him. Over the past week they ended up putting the breathing tube back in for a couple of days because his oxygenation levels were apparently too low. I think they ended up taking it back out on Wednesday or so. This morning he was sitting in a recliner watching TV. He has also apparently been walked down the hall in CSU a couple of times, so that is a positive sign as well.

Don will be coming down for a week about the time that Chris heads home for a week or so, after which she plans on coming back out for a while.

It will be nice once Dad is transferred out of the CSU to a regular room so that his chess buddies can come in (one at a time!) to play some chess with him. I think he’d enjoy that. Also, once he is in a regular room, Karen can bring the girls over for a visit as well.

— Rich

They removed Dad’s breathing tube this afternoon about noon (they removed the balloon pump yesterday evening). When we saw Dad at 1:00, he was enjoying being able to talk again (he said “Hello” to us several times). In fact, the nurse was having a bit of difficulting listening to his lungs because he kept talking. At about 1:30 they kicked us out of the room so that they could get Dad out of the bed and into a recliner instead, which he was anxious to have them do. He was so anxious, that once he saw the recliner out in the hall he asked me to get him down out of the bed and we had to explain that it wasn’t my call and that he was still connected to a bunch of wires and tubes.

They let us back in to see him at about 2:15 for a few minutes and he was “relaxing” in the recliner (which means that they had to have him up on his feet to transfer him, which is a good). We’ll go see him again at 5:00. Hopefully by then they’ll have removed the chest tube.

— Rich

We just got back a few minutes ago from seeing Dad. Since he still has the breathing tube in, he isn’t able to talk, but did seem to recognize all of us and answered questions by gently nodding or shaking his head.

They’ve reduced the assistance the balloon pump (which I’ve come to understand is actually a balloon in the artery) is giving him to every other beat, so that is progress. They’ve also reduced the pressure via the breathing tube, so that is also progress. The nurse indicated that they both might be removed later this afternoon. If so, Dad should then be able to be sat up in the bed.

— Rich

Dad is out of surgery and in ICU.

We got to talk to the surgeon and see Dad for a few minutes.

According to the surgeon, the valve was very calcified and definitely needed to be replaced, which it was (with a pig valve). They did a single bypass to the artery that had the stent placed in it back in July. They ended up using an artery/vein from the left leg for the bypass. They had a bit of an issue getting the breathing tube down, but that seemed like the only complication during the surgery.

Dad is still under the anesthesia. They don’t reverse it, rather just let him wake up from it. He opened an eye once or twice while we were in there, but you could tell he wasn’t really awake. ICU visiting minutes are at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. tonight, but the nurse said he wouldn’t be any more awake at 5 p.m. than he was at 2:30.

They are leaving the breathing tube in until they are sure that he isn’t having any difficulty breathing on his own, especially since the tube was somewhat difficult to get in in the first place. He is also on a “balloon pump” that apparently is a balloon in the chest that beats with the heart beat-for-beat to assist it until it regains strength. They will eventually have it assist every other, then every third, then every fourth, etc. until they are convinced that the assistance is no longer necessary at which time it will be removed.

Well, Apple has done it again, again.

Just a little over two months since the release of the iPhone, Apple has announced a new version of the iPod that capitalizes on the touchscreen wonder of the iPhone, the Apple iPod Touch. Basically, it is an iPhone without the phone (but with WiFi).

We’re one step closer to that iPod with the built-in 3D holographic projector…

Jim Bingle is scheduled to have open heart surgery to replace a failing valve on September 7th at Wuesthoff Hospital in Rockledge, FL. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers!