Update Oct. 19 2011

It was obvious today that some of the medications that dad has been taking are working.  Since Sunday, today was by far the best we have seen dad.  His mind was more on par to what we are used to.  He was cracking jokes, laughing and smiling, and able to hold a decent conversation.  We even saw him get up off his bed and walk a little bit.  He was very tired today and slept off and on through out the day.

Because dad was able to take in liquids on his own, he was also taken off the IV.  This made him quite happy as he wasn't "tied" up anymore. 

In regards to the CT scan that he had yesterday, the doctor ordered this scan to see if he had any clots in his lungs.  As it turns out, there was none, however he does have some fluid around his lungs.  Tomorrow there will be an internal medicine doctor coming to see dad to discuss removing some of this fluid.  This will also help in his breathing, although his breathing has already improved in the past 24 hours. 

Part way through today dad was also moved to a different room.  He is now in room 401 at Langley Memorial Hospital.  This is a private room which allows his family and visitors a much more intimate time with him.  This too is providential.

We continue to see improvement in dad's health so it is hard to say what the future holds.  We know that our Heavenly Father has dad's life all planned out and we just live day by day.  We are thankful for the time that we still have with our earthly dad/opa and in a lot of ways hope to have many more, but we also understand that soon, he will be with our heavenly father in paradise and this is something that excites us too. 

We thank all of you who are following this blog and praying for our family in these trying times.  We continue to ask the Lord for strength not only for us, but for Mom too, who is being strong through these days. 

As my father has often said on this blog, Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Peter jr.