This have gone pretty well today, Friday (2/6). My dad is pretty stable and is slowly moving toward consciousness. We are seeing some of his reflexes come back and his brain wave activity slowly increase. He still is battling a fever.
As his consciousness increases, he becomes more aware and aggrivated with the things that he is hooked up to. He is coughing a lot and his heart rate is elevated because of the vent tube going down his throat. The nurses may have to sedate him a little because he is basically fighting the vent. The vent is programed for 12 breaths a minute, but he is taking 16 to 18, which means he is breathing over top of the vent. When he is aggrivated he is taking 26 or so breaths a minute.
We found out today that the waking process may take three to four days, or even a week. This is discouraging for me, because I would like to be here when he 'wakes up'. I would love to see him open his eyes.
There have been a lot of visitors. A lot of family but also a lot from my dad's professional world. It has been neat to talk to them and hear about their interactions with him. My dad is the superientendent of Madison County MRDD. He has been invloved with MRDD for about 30 years, thus he has lots of close friends throughout the state. People have been coming from all over to see him. And people are really shook up over his condition.
Thank you for the prayers, cards, emails, and calls. They mean a lot to me and the family.
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