Sunday - Update and New Stuff - Happy Stuff

  When I left Laramie on Friday, Dad was in extremely critical condition.  I believe  that the decision to take him off IV steroids suddenly and put him on oral Predisone caused him to have an extreme blood sugar crisis that put him in (or nearly in) a diabetic coma.  I also think it was serious enough that we could have lost him on Friday.  An adjustment was made and he has rallied physically.

 

   His mental state has been working against him.  About 10 days ago, he became very withdrawn, sullen, stopped communicating, and began sleeping most of the time.  His withdrawal made us believe he was giving up and we wondered if he wanted to invest in his rehabilitation at all.  We could not get him to verbalize one way or another.  I had a talk with him on Thursday and told him he had to start taking control of his recovery.  He admitted that he was overwhelmed by the long road ahead of him and agreed to start being more active in his care.  Then, we had the crisis on Friday which set him back.

 

  Yesterday (Saturday), he began to rally physically but mentally, he was still very withdrawn and would not communicate with anyone and he was refusing to eat.  Last night, Carol got in his face (bless her heart) and told him that if he wanted to die they would take him home this morning, call in hospice and help him do that.  If he wanted to live, he was going to have to start taking an active part in his recovery because she and Mom couldn't want him to get better more than he wanted it and they weren't going to do all the work anymore.  Well, he crossed his arms over his chest and got pretty pissed off (always a motivating emotion) and I guess he decided he was going to get well because he woke up in the middle of the night and asked for some chicken.  He has refused all meat and protein since the end of February.  He got some chicken noodle soup and ate part of it.  This morning, he greeted Carol with a fairly strong voice and even told her she looked nice.  He ate around 30 grams of protein for breakfast, agreed to get out of bed and into his special chair and sit by the window, greeted the nurse and was going to cooperate with everyone today.

 

  So, go Carol go!  She kicked his ass and for now, he's choosing life.  Tomorrow morning, his doctor and Mom are going to offer two choices.  He can stay in Laramie and rehab and get an OK recovery or he can go to Porter Hospital in Denver and go into their pulmonary rehab and get an excellent recovery.  It's up to him.  He will have to choose.  Porter has agreed to take him.  They see him as an excellent candidate for their program (which I understand is one of the best in the country). 

 

  Mom went to church this morning and she's going to the UW women's basketball game this afternoon.  She and Carol are going to take a new attitude about his care, too.  They are going to become visitors instead of around the clock care givers.  The are no longer going to enable him to remain dependent and sick.

I'm so proud of them!!!

 

 We will let you know what happens from here.  Please keep the prayers and positive vibes coming.  You have kept us going.

 

  On to other news - my new grandbaby is going to be born in the morning.  Shannon has a planned c-section scheduled for 9:00 a.m.   Watch for an announcement and PICTURES.   Dennis and I went shopping a little bit a go and I picked up a few things:  The softest little blanket I could find, some burp clothes, a hooded towel, some classic Pooh receiving blankets, and a set of 3 wicker baskets lined with the classic Pooh print in pale green to put things in on the shelves of the dressing table.  If I have time, I want to make up 2 flannel blankets ~ a blue and a pink ~ to take to the hospital tomorrow so I'm prepared for a boy or a girl.  I was going to do that but my trip to Laramie preempted my sewing projects.   I am SO excited and grateful to God for this new little life.  What a blessing especially at this time.  Please pray for a healthy baby and a very healthy Mommy.

 

Last night, we went to see Eric Clapton in concert.  It was GREAT.  It's the second time we've seen him live and he is just amazing.  It was so funny (or not) to see all the old geezers in the crowd.  Most of the audience was between 50 and 65 years old or between 20 and 30.  When the lights went down and he took the stage, the aroma of marijuana got pretty thick around us.  We were sitting next to a group of 20-22 year olds who looked over at us to see our reaction.  I nudged Dennis and laughed, "Honey, Skunk!"  I took my hand and moved it like I was pulling the smoke in to my face and we laughed.  I looked over at those kids and they were laughing so hard.  I guess they didn't expect to see oldsters like us 'getting it'.   Dennis told them, ''Dudes, we're products of the 60's...we invented pot."

Our daughter, Cari and her fiance, Sam were with us and they thought it was funny that we were not at all fazed by the pot smoking.  Jeez!  I guess I forgot to tell my kids that I did have a life before they were born.  I don't especially want them to know that I smoked the stuff in my 20's but I don't think they should believe I was raised in a cave either.  It was good to go out and have FUN, laugh and just relax after so much tension and stress.  I feel much better this morning.

 

WATCH  THIS  SPACE  FOR  BABY  NEWS TOMORROW!!!