friday night late, february 29

one of the doctors (i think dad has 58 of them) mentioned that it might be POSSIBLE for dad to come home on sunday night or monday...home, meaning HOME. not the rehabilitation hospital. he said the decision will be made between the doctors and him and mom. it's basically a matter of whether he and mom think they can make a go of it on their own. it'd be pretty tough, but for dad's spirit's, it might do him better to just be in his own bed and space. so we'll see how the next couple of days go.

dad isn't eating much. this isn't good. obviously, dialysis makes him a bit queasy and he doesn't have much of an appetite due to the treatments as well as his meds. but the doctors all get a really worried look when they find out that he's only eating jello, peaches, half a cup of soup, etc. we all know it's important for his health to eat - even if he doesn't feel like it! so pray about this.

also, i was looking over the diet he will have to be on for dialysis and it looks almost impossible! no salt, no foods high in potassium or phosphorous (whatever that is!), limited amounts of liquid, etc...i don't think dad has a clue about this part. i mentioned that i would bring him up some low sodium campbell's soup tomorrow, and he looked at me like, "why low sodium?" and let's all think for a second about dad's lifetime "diet": cream gravy, fried pork chops, butter, steaks, potatoes, cheese, burgers, homemade french fries, bacon and fried eggs...shall i go on? i know we're all thankful that he's alive, but if we are honest, dad doesn't remember how close he was to death. he was paralyzed and sedated throughout the first half of the experience. yes, the past two weeks have been a reality check, but he was asleep through the really scary days. so the next few weeks are going to be probably the toughest time for him yet. please be praying about the transitions (food, emotion, lack of nursing care, being so weak, no cigarettes, and so on)...

after dialysis, they took him to do some kind of imaging of his kidneys today. this is the first real "view" they've taken of the kidneys. we haven't found out what they've seen yet, so we're all on edge waiting to find out. it's one of those situations where you want to know but you don't want to know. i'll update when we find out what the test reveals. his creatinine and BUN are still on the rise. his pre-dialysis labs had his creatinine in the 12's and his BUN in the 140s. not good numbers...

thanks so much for all of the cards and emails!