Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Today is the day Daddy gets his permanent pacemaker, they told us it would be late this morning, but as it turns out it is scheduled at 1:00 pm (maybe they were thinking "left coast" time when they said late morning).

Actually, let me back up...Nelda's day started with a visit from the neurologist at midnight - waking her from a semi-restful sleep and telling her Daddy was not progressing as quickly as he had hoped and it would probably be two to three YEARS before he was over this. Well, we are thinking he's off by a good year and a half to two and a half years!!!

• Why is it that a great number of medical professionals look at a patient's chart and see 81 years old (for example) and think "old person"?
• They don't know my daddy, he may be 81 years old chronologically, but he's much younger physically and mentally.
• We believe he will fight to get back to his "new norm" and get there much faster than expected.

OK - now back to the pacemaker insertion...the procedure went well and by 4:30 pm (CDT) he had a new pacemaker, plus the wiring and tube from the temporary pacemaker had been removed. We are so grateful!

The fears of aspiration and possible pneumonia were dispelled when the doctor read this morning's x-rays (one lung was completely clear and the other had a little congestion); so we're a little confused as to why they are so ready to start a feeding tube. He is going to get to be sitting up tomorrow and they will only now begin to evaluate him...so we requested he be given the chance to prove he can swallow.

This afternoon before going into surgery, we were trying to get him to use his right hand. We have been going through this exercise of "squeeze my hand - pretend it's a golf club and squeeze it" and that had worked up until today, I think he's figured us out! So I popped off and said "OK, Daddy, if you won't squeeze my hand, we'll just have to arm wrestle" (hoping he'd just try to grip my hand). Well, you can imagine my surprise when he took my hand to the mattress. AND to top that, when I started to bring it back up, he tightened his grip and took it down again. This happened four times. He's a mess!!! We have laughed at how his sense of humor and orneriness continue to show through. I love his crooked little smile!!!

So tonight he sleeps, and tomorrow the tough part begins...rehab! He's determined...we can tell because he's feisty!

Please pray for his ability to swallow and for a quick and complete healing. We are grateful for your continued prayers and support.