Recovery is a long and twisting road

Well, it has been several weeks since my last post. I am still in Florida, and my father is still in the hosptial. I missed out on the details for the first week, but I can recap what I know. He was admitted on 01MAR08, complaining of abdominal pains, nausea, etc. He managed to call 911 himself, and was taken to the emergency room. From what I can gather, he was given "too much" delotted, and pain killer, and went into respiratory arrest. This is not the same as "coding" which is cardiac arrest.

I arrived on 06MAR08 on the red-eye flight our of LAX. His respiratory problems lead to the diagnosis of pulmatory fibrosis. The doctors say it is a condition he has probably had for a long time, just never discovered till now. This is a condition you can find more info on your own, you know Google and Wikipedia should be your friend. He was intubated 09MAR08.

He was extubated on 17MAR08. During this entire time he was feeding thorugh IVs and finally a tube in his nose. He had no real solid food since 08MAR08. He did not get any solid food until 19MAR08, when his speech therapist indicated his swallowing was adequate. He aspirated some water, and was given a barium swallow test, which he failed. The solid foods were removed from his diet, and he was placed back on the IV. I requested another barium test due to his sedated condition. His primary doctor agreed, and the following day a second barium test was successfully passed. Solid foods return.

Now there are still giving him some antibiotics due to some fluid in his lungs, but they are not ready to call it what it is yet. His liver enzymes are also elevated, and they do not know the cause. They indicate they are only elevated, not rising, so I suppose that is a good thing. Today we should learn if they will move him to a normal hospital room.