Update on My Dad

My Dad is still in Intensive Care. He is doing remarkably well, all things considered, and he continues to improve a little bit each day. The recovery is just going to be very long (months), but at least he is heading in the right direction.

We are 11 days post-op, and they still have him on a ventilator. They wanted to take the tubes out days ago, but he developed pneumonia in both lungs, and they had to wait for that to clear up. They are again weaning him off the vent today in the hopes of extubating this afternoon or tomorrow morning. This will be a big step with his condition, and we are all a bit scared and anxious for it.

Dan has been awake and, while not able to talk with the tubes in, he is asking questions and understands everything. It takes about 30 minutes to figure out what he is asking for with pictures, and pointing to letters on paper, and only about 5 seconds to answer him. Needless to say, we are all eager for the tubes to be out. He remembers everything up to the aneurysm, but the post-surgery time frame is a little fuzzy for him (due to heavy sedatives and painkillers). They are no longer concerned about any neurological changes that could have occurred during the surgery, which is another miracle in itself.

So, things are going well, and we are so thankful to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. What a tremendous blessing it is to have such wonderful friends and family!