blog update #1, 1:00 am 11/14

my dad is in the hospital. a lot of you know that right now, and are praying for him. thank you for praying. you are the fuel that keeps me going right now. i decided to use my blog as a means for you all to keep up with what is going on--this way you can check in whenever you want and i can update it whenever and not overflow your inbox with email updates that may or may not be as important.

i trust the Lord is sovereign and in control, but it can be scary watching these numbers flux between the hopeful state of recovery and potential death at times. the nurses here are being very patient with me and explaining (and re-explaining!) what they are monitoring, what the various numbers mean, et cetera. his blood pressure has been high-- 180's / 80's or so. i've been watching the bottom number the most--it has gone as low as 68. right now that number is 115.

he is diabetic, so his blood sugar is being monitored (naturally). it seems higher now than it has been all day and creeping up a bit (165 at the moment). for comparison: wednesday night it was over 250; at 10pm Thurs. night it was 110. it is almost 1am, officially friday morning.

he is on a ventilator. for most of the day thursday it was breathing for him 100%. his lungs are so full of gunk from pneumonia that he cannot breathe on his own. they lowered the percentage to 80% for a while to see if he could supplement that other 20% on his own--he did okay, but they raised it back to 90% so he wouldn't be struggling with it so much. he is also fighting a fever (highest: 101; current: 99.8).

they are doing this thing where the top half of the bed bounces--to break up the gunk in his lungs for it to come out easier. it seems to be working; as much as i can tell, anyway. they've done this a few times so it must have some impact...?

i am sleeping at the hospital tonight. we shall see about tomorrow--day by day. he is 'stable', but he was also supposed to be released this morning to go home. it was a sudden change, from feeling better to coding and being put on a ventilator. the doctor who was treating him was shocked to see the turn of events, even. my dad lives close to here, and my sister a little beyond that, so i do have places to sleep other than here--but i do not want to drive and rush back here if there is a need. i don't know what he is aware of at the moment, but i want him to know someone is here, he is not alone. maybe it is just for me more than for him. it seems we never realize how little time we've had until that time is threatened.