saturday night, march 1

tomorrow is the day! dad is coming HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

they've worked it out where he will do his rehabilitation during the day at healthsouth, and then he will come home at night so he can FINALLY sleep in his own bed! i can't imagine how excited he is...it will be really difficult for both him and mom to adjust, but luckily mom is a good caretaker! there was a time when i walked into the house and i felt fear and sadness thinking that dad might not ever come home again, but now the rascal is almost on his way! what an amazing turn of events...

they found out the results of the imaging of the kidneys. the left one is dead (we had been prepared for this), and the right one is only working at 5%. in order for him to be off of dialysis, it has to be functioning at a minimum of 15%. now we know specifics, so now it's time to pray in a focused way about his right kidney.

i spoke with a nurse today and found out that they have not yet placed dad on a restricted dialysis diet. that's good news to his ears. he hasn't experienced any edema, so he just has to eat healthier and leave out the salt, so mrs. dash will be his new best friend! let's pray he won't ever have any edema, so that he can continue to be able to eat more of a variety, but at this point, he'll do anything to remain as healthy as possible!

specifics:

dad's progress continues to move forward after his release from the hospital
kidney function raises upwards of 15%
dad will get some good rest
mom will have all the energy and rest she needs to be a full time nurse
the rehabilitation will go smoothly as well as his first visits to the outpatient dialysis center (tues., thurs., sat., at 5 a.m.)

God has been so merciful!