Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for all the love, prayers, and support you’ve shown our family and my dad.
Thanksgiving was very meaningful this year. We didn’t have the usual sit down family dinner or party at home this year; things we used to always take for granted; we barely had any visitors either; this year however, we actually had something heartfelt to be thankful for – my dad and grandma becoming conscious and responsive.
Dad, while still on a ventilator and so weak he could barely open his eyes, was weaned off sedation and paralytic drug (used to relax his lungs for optimal ventilator results), and amazingly able to nod and shake his head yes/no. He tried lifting his arms as well, though unable to properly use his hands. He was quite frustrated with the ventilator and showed some restlessness. It was the first day waking up after being in critical condition and sedated for 5 days; we all cautiously monitored his consciousness, tried giving him as much encouragement as we could despite the circumstances and expressed our “I love you’s.
We left dad for half an hour to have a quick but well prepared Thanksgiving meal on the patio outside the hospital, prepared with love by Diane’s family. They woke up early just to start cooking for us and packed it all, restaurant to go quality, in a heat sealed bag. It was one of the nicest and sweetest things I’ve ever seen. Grandson Cairus joined us in his stroller.
The next few days will be focused on stabilizing my dad’s levels, especially the stability of his oxygen, which will determine when he can be taken off the ventilator. He will be also given a CT scan of his abdomen, chest, heart angiogram, colonoscopy, and renal utrasound in preparation for being put on liver transplant list.
PS. In other news, grandma also snapped out of her altered mental status and slowly started coming back to consciousness, mumbling words we could barely understand, but very positive signs considering what had been a couple days ago.
