Tuesday, Oct. 7th updates

Dan moved to another room today, from Intermediate Care to a regular room. Not as many high tech gizmos in the room but a few of the same nurses. They took out his arterial line so all he has now is his picc line for IV meds, oxygen nose tube thing, and the catheter. His labs look good, his liver is doing well, his heart is still in sinus rhythm, and his blood pressure is staying normal. Now the hard work of getting out of bed and walking and exercising begins. He's in an air bed that sort of sucks him in like a hammock, it's supposed to be easier on his skin and pressure points since he's been in bed so long now. However, it also makes it harder for him to scoot up in bed to catch his breath, or to even want to get up at all. Dan's folks and I would like to see him go back to a regular patient bed like he had in the beginning.

Specific prayer requests today:

* Pray that the doctors etc. will be open to moving Dan back to the regular bed.
* Pray for Dan's mental state. We don't know if it's the meds he's on or the air bed or what, but he is still quite confused and is trying to give up trying to get out of bed or do anything he used to do like reading, he won't even move his arms to try to eat, he says he can't and his folks and I are still feeding him his meals. The doctors mentioned that if this doesn't change, at some point he might need to be moved to another facility like a nursing home, and our hearts hurt. He had been doing so well, even bragging about the laps he was taking around the floor, now he doesn't seem to want to try anymore.
* Pray for stamina, health and patience for us as we minister to Dan's needs, also for the hospital staff working with Dan.

Sorry to paint such a dismal picture, it's a tough time right now, and I figure it's better to be honest and ask for your continued prayers.

Mahalo (thanks),
Debbie