Don's progress

We had a small Thanksgiving in that we weren't ever all really together at once but it was o.k. We kind of all went back and forth to the hospital visiting Daddy. Daddy has looked really good for the last few days. He wanted some pants and wanted to sit up in the chair. So we got his pajama pants and got him up and in a chair. He sat in the chair for about 20 minutes before he was ready to get back in the bed. That wore him out but he seems to have a good attitude again about his therapy and getting better. He is joking and smiling again which is nice to see. On Wednesday, they took the NG tube out of his nose and put in a peg tube through his stomach. His stomach is a little sore still but the peg tube feedings seem to be working out better. He should be gettting more nutrition this way and hopefully will get stronger a little faster.

More later,
Cindy

Don's progress

Daddy's doing pretty well. Still not out of bed much. Physical therapy sits him in the chair for a few minutes. Anyway, he is still a lot better than before. He is getting a round of chemo today. This is the modified version because his body probably can't handle the full chemo treatment at once. Yesterday afternoon and last night he was wanting coffee and was a little mad that I couldn't get it for him. Anyway, he's doing as well as can be expected at this point.

More later.

Thanks for all the prayers.

Tracy

Don's progress

Daddy is still in room 528, the isolation room, and will be through at least the weekend. They don't think it is tuberculosis but something in that family. They won't know for sure until Monday. The room itself is nicer than the other room but we all have to wear mask when we are in there which gets old quick.

We have three therapists there working him everyday. The occupational therapist has been working with him in the bed. The physical therapist has gotten him up and out of the bed into a chair. He isn't able to do much more than put a little weight on his legs but that is a start. Speech therapist is working with him on swallowing but his throat is so sore he isn't able to do much. Yesterday they ordered something with lidocaine to help numb the throat a little and hopefully this will help with the sore throat and enable him to do a little more.
The telephone in the room number 387-7528. He can't/won't really talk right now but perhaps he will soon with the lidocaine.

Keep praying.....
C

Don's progress

Sorry we haven't updated in a while. Mark, Lesa, Cathy and Katie came in for the weekend. Daddy was glad to see everyone but he mostly slept. Yesterday they moved Daddy to Baton Rouge General Mid City to a skilled nursing unit where he could receive therapy for swallowing so we could get him back eating and more physical therapy to get him on his feet. Today we got the news that the endoscopy performed several weeks ago grew something on the culture they took and so now he has been put into an isolation room so no visitors are allowed except the family members who have been with him previously. They won't know what it is until Monday but they are assuming it is contagious and taking precautions. He is in room 528. I think the phone number is 387-7528 but I'm not sure.

Please continue to pray.....

Cindy

Don's progress

We're all still hanging in there. Mark, Lesa, Cathy and Katie all came in for the weekend which I am sure lightened his spirits. Plans change from moment to moment but the current plan is for Daddy to go the other Baton Rouge General for a couple of weeks and get some speech therapy to try to help him swallow and then hopefully we will be going home. We thought we were going to be taking him home in a few days and do our own physical rehab with the help of home health but that was two hours ago and sometimes the plans change quickly. Hopefully the swallowing therapy will work and we can get rid of the feeding tube and he can start eating and then we can focus on getting his strength back and getting him back on his feet.

Keep praying.....
C

Don's progress

Daddy is doing pretty well today. He was nauseated this morning and they gave him something for that. He is hanging in there and has a pretty good attitude. We love him so much!

Don's progress

The hospital just called (2:30 pm) and they are moving him into a room. The room number is 4425. Faye and Cindy saw him at the 1:00 visit and he was doing great. He was laughing and joking. He is still weak, of course, but is doing pretty well. Hopefully, they will start feeding him and he will do well with that. I know he is ready to try to eat. So far, he has asked for water, ice cream and milk. We are all doing well and as long as Daddy is doing well, we feel pretty good!

Talk to you all later...Love you!

Don's progress

They are moving Daddy into a room today if one comes open. They have a full house and there is a long list, so he may end up spending the night in ICU again. Hopefully not because we want to sit with him. He is doing pretty good. He's very sad and cries when you talk to him. He just feels so bad and is so weak. Hopefully, he can get his strength back soon. Pray for strength. He needs it.

Don's progress

Good news! HE IS OFF THE VENTILATOR AND DOING FINE! All he has now is the nasal canula, which is the little tube that goes to the nose with oxygen. Everything else is fine at this point. The tumor is totally gone per the oncologist this morning. They will probably do chemo in a couple of weeks. He needs to get a little stronger. I'm hoping they move him to a regular room tomorrow!

Keep praying! This is awesome!

Don's progress

Here's the latest: Chest x-ray shows a slight improvement. His lungs sound moderately better. He is being assisted slightly less with the ventilator today than when they first put him on the vent. The machine shows that he is taking in more oxygen on his own than before. All small improvements but we'll take what we can get and they did say it would take a few days.

I also wanted to say thanks for all your prayers and encouraging support. We appreciate it!

Keep praying,

C

Don's progress

Daddy got into an ICU room yesterday afternnoon. Things are pretty much the same. We just have to wait and see what his lungs are going to do. He was resting comfortably this morning and didn't seem agitated like last night. The doctors say his lungs sound slightly better but the chest x-rays aren't showing that. We just have to wait and see. Keep praying and I'll update more later.......

C

Don's progress

Things got a little rough for Daddy today. He was having a lot of trouble breathing and they decided to sedate and ventilate him. He was in good spirits, still joking around and smiling. He is now on the ventilator and waiting for an ICU bed. He is in recovery because they don't have an ICU bed available. He will continue to be sedated while on the vent. Hopefully, his lungs will clear up over the next few days. Keep praying.

Love you,

Tracy