OT dad update

Well, it came to the point where dad needed a trach. So that happened Sat morning and they also put a feeding tube into his stomach. Doctor said this is being done for the long haul. (hard to hear that coming directly from a doctor rather than from mom) The surgery went well and he was put into ICU for at least 24 hours possibly 2 days for monitoring. This morning they decided to keep him in ICU until tomorrow due to staffing in the rehab unit (the charge nurse said that was a good thing since the ICU can keep a closer eye and she hopes she will be assigned to his new unit tomorrow---we really like her! needless to say LOL) and not due to his condition (a sigh of relief). He looked so much better without those tubes in his throat/mouth and looks more like the dad I know (except for the new moustache). We are hoping this is the last of the setbacks and he can feel better about things and gain some more confidence. He was trying to talk yesterday but couldn't, so I am sure in a few days he will be talking up a storm. He is on 65% oxygen (was at 50% before the surgery so that is good) and had a lot more color to him. Just hard to believe it will be 3 months on Sept 4th since he broke his hip and could be another couple of months. Hopefully he will be home before the snow flies. I am not going to be able to return for 4 weeks due to work starting again. I felt horrible leaving this morning because of that and also he was sleeping so soundly that I didn't feel it was right to wake him up to say "see you later". I did pretty well this weekend, except for breaking down this morning. My family and I thank you so much for your prayers and thoughts. We can certainly feel your good vibes heading in our direction. Grace