Today started off well. We went to see Dad in the morning and he was looking great. He was trying to communicate with us as usual. He wanted foot rubs and leg exercises. I did those while Mom moved his arms and scratched his head. Through a series of winks, Dad and I are able to communicate well. He asked me about his stomach and what surgery was done. He also asked about his tracheotomy. I tried to fill in all the blanks with him. Just enough so he wouldn't be alarmed. We then left our morning visit and I tried to talked Mom into going for a walk on the beach. She caved. When soon returned for our afternoon visit and he was asleep so we just sat quietly with him. His blood pressure seemed to be on the rise.
During our visit this evening upon entering the room we noticed a large amount of blood around the trachea (throat). The nurses assured us that they would watch it carefully and that his blood thinning medicine was the cause. He had been off it since the surgery but they decided to begin it today. As you can imagine Mom had a difficult time seeing Dad in this condition. Pastor Lionel and Pastor Neville were there to help console Mom as well as a nurse who happens to attend Pastor Neville's church. They explained it to Mom several times to reassure her it would be ok. I spoke with Dr. Stern and he let me know that they would keep a close watch but that the root cause was his medicine. They have stopped the medicine and the blood will begin to clot. During this time Dad was not alert. His blood pressure and heart rate where up and we have learned that this is a sign of discomfort. And its normal. I did read to him a song of Davids in Psalms. He seemed to respond during my reading. Please continue to pray as always but specifically for his blood to clot correctly and his blood pressure to stabilize.
