Praise be to God

As of 4:30pm today, Papa is breathing on his own and off of the ventilator. He is talking a little, but his throat is very sore. They're going to try to start him back on some clear liquids tomorrow. I know he dreads the typical meal of jello, popsicles, and tea! But that's better than nothing. We are so thankful to God for allowing Papa to improve so quickly. There is nothing the doctors can find that caused this event and even less to answer why he is off the ventilator so soon. All we can say is God is so good!
My uncle has been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. He will be on iv antibiotics for a few days probably. Please keep both of these men in your prayers.

Spaghetti Dinner at the Collins' house

This was supper time at our house recently. Will all the yucky news we've had, I felt I needed to put up something encouraging. Miss Caitlin was enjoying her spaghetti dressed only in a bib and a diaper. We went straight to the bathtub after this and I still seem to be finding noodles in the tub! Hope this brings a smile to your face and brings back memories of when your own children looked this way!

Update on Papa and others

Papa did pretty good during the night until about 6:00am when they had to turn him while giving his bath. His heart rate dropped to 24, but came back up rather quickly. During this episode, they had to increase the ventilator settings back up. The doctor came in today and said that his heart is working at about 30-35% where normal is 45-50%. Last monday his percentage was normal so that is a little cause for concern. If these episodes continue, they will discuss a pacemaker but we hope this was just a one time event. He is still opening his eyes and nodding his head today. He is leaving the tube alone for right now. They started again weaning him off the ventilator and we will see how that goes again.
I've been home with Caitlin today. I've been either working or at the hospital a lot lately and was missing my little girl. We've had lots of fun playing today and just enjoying each other. I'll be heading back up there tomorrow for a visit and then to work this weekend. Please pray for Lee who will be leaving tomorrow taking 26 young people to Gatlinburg for a conference type of thing. He has plenty of adults going along, but it's still a big undertaking. As long as Papa is stable he will be going, I shoud say.
Please also pray for one of my uncles who was just taken to the hospital and is in the ER now having tests run. His legs are not wanting to move right now. He fell down this morning and can't seem to stand. They're doing a CT scan as we speak.
I'll update on things again tomorrow. Thank you all for checking on us and praying.

Update on Papa

Well, God had a change of plans! We got a call about 4:15 this morning that Papa had taken a turn for the worse - wasn't breathing and they were about to put him on the ventilator. I jumped up and flew to the hospital. Lee stayed home with Caitlin. I got to his room and he was still there. They had him intubated (breathing tube down his throat) and he had just had an x-ray. There were lots of people there as they had called a "Code Blue" which is either cardiac or respiratory arrest. The doctor and nurses were there, the chaplain, two security guards, and the nursing house supervisor. They moved him back down to CICU and put him on the ventilator. It was a difficult morning to say the least. Papa was not responding or breathing on his own at all. His vital signs were stable though. We called lots of people trying to get the word out for people to pray for him. I told Lee that it would take a miracle for him to pull through. We did a lot of talking among ourselves about important issues. There was a lot of crying too, for we love our Papa! About lunch time, they turned down the settings on the ventilator as Dr. Kim wanted him off of it as quick as possible so his body wouldn't become dependent on it to breathe. He started opening his eyes a little and trying to pull at the breathing tube. As the afternoon wore on, he would mouthe some words like "please" when he would hit at the tube (we explained that it would have to stay and it couldn't come out yet) and "move" when he wanted the head of his bed up or down. We were thrilled to see this! The respiratory therapist said that he is initiating all of his breaths. This mean that he breathes often, but not very deep. The machine just enhances each breath that he takes. They are going to leave him on the machine until in the morning and then see if they can get him off of it. He's running a temp of 102 and is getting some Tylenol for this. The doctor seems to think that he may have aspirated (choked on / inhaled) some of his secretions (saliva) into his lungs that caused pneumonia. He's on antibiotics for this. Words cannot describe the sense of relief we had this afternoon and I believe that we truly witnessed a miracle. God is faithful and His timing is perfect. I'm not trying to jump ahead and I know we have a long road ahead of us, but things looked so bleak this morning. As of now (7:51pm) we have all left the hospital. It's important that we all get some rest and that's near impossible at the hospital. I ask that you pray for Papa and for our family. I will update again tomorrow hopefully.

Update on Papa

Lee's dad has had a pretty good day today and yesterday. He said "hey" to CC yesterday morning when she walked in. He hasn't been talking much so this was an improvement. Today he rested most of the day and was at such peace. It was an answer to pray to see him like this! Please continue to pray for his recovery.

Update on Papa

Today has been an up and down day for Papa. They redid and x-ray of his chest and abdomen today. He has a lot of fluid around his lungs called a pleural effusion. This has caused his breathing to be labored and he gets short of breath laying down. They are giving him Lasix to try to get rid of the fluid. His abdomen still is swollen and they have gone back to him having nothing by mouth except medicines. The doctor will be inserting a central line (kind of like a fancy iv in a main vein in the collarbone area) tomorrow. They will do this procedure in his room under local anesthesia. Since he hasn't taken in much by way of eating in about nine days, they will be beginning what's called TPN or total parenteral nutrition. It's a balanced solution containing all of the fats, proteins, carbs, vitamins, etc that his body needs. This will prevent him from getting weaker and weaker. Hopefully we won't need this for too long, but it will help in the interim. This solution can't be given through a regular iv so they have to put in the central line. Please continue to pray for our family. CC is tired and needs to rest, but it's hard for her to leave him. I don't know what I would do in her situation. I took Caitlin up to see them this afternoon. I think it did all three of them good! She sure has missed her Papa & CC and I know they've missed her too. I'll continue to update when able!

Update on Papa

Lee's dad was moved out of CICU this afternoon to 8 Tower which is the progressive care unit. We are so thankful to GOD for blessing him with some improvements that have allowed this move to happen. He ate solid food tonight for the first time in a week. We're praying that his body can handle it. He had been on liquids for a couple of days and seemed to be tolerating that fair. He's still on oxygen and seems to be laboring to breathe even at rest. Please pray with us that this will resolve soon. His heart continues to be perfectly normal! Praise the Lord for this! CC went home for the night which is a big relief. His room is right in front of the nurses station and I think they will keep a close eye on him. Hopefully she can get some rest herself tonight. We've asked for a repeat x-ray of his abdomen to be sure that the blockage has resolved. One eerie thing that has been going on is he is sleeping with his eyes open. You can never tell if he is awake or sleeping! It is awful. I came in the room today talking to him and he seemed to be awake, but was snoring! I've never been around someone like that so it will take a little time for me to adjust to that sight. I don't want to interrupt his sleep, but I don't want him to think I'm ignoring him either! We are so thankful for the care he has received in the hospital and also the care our family has received. We have been on the receiving end of many calls, prayers, cards, and words of encouragement. It means so much to know that other people care. Please continue to pray for us and I'll try to update in a couple days!