Update on Dad-August 27 9:45PM

David and I saw Dad this evening and had a good chance to speak to his nurse. Here's what we learned:

Dad had a CAT scan today, which showed really no improvement with his pneumonia. Or, the other way to look at it is...it's not getting worse, so that's a blessing. It also showed there is quite a bit of fluid in the area around the lungs, and the Dr. is going to be deciding in the next 24 hours or so if they need to drain that area with a needle they would insert into the fluid pockets to drain them. As of tonight, Dad is still on the respirator, and still has his hands in restraints. We asked about this, as he is pretty much alert and lucid, but the nurse says when they loosen or remove them he immediately starts reaching for/playing with the tubes and she is just worried that he might find them so irritating he would pull them out.

Dad's bowel blood loss definitely seems to be less, and as of right now they are just hoping that it will stop bleeding on it's own...so again this is kind of a "wait and see" type thing. This could change dramatically at any time if something "breaks loose" in there. The are giving him nutrition through his G-tube, and so far he is tolerating that okay.

The last thing was the bedsore that he has, and that seems to be getting no worse, but really getting no better. They are rotating Dad every couple of hours, and treating it with "barrier" cream, but it seems very slow in healing as well.

Dad had the Angel game on while we were there, and seemed interested in watching that. My feeling is that this will be a long process of recovery, and most of these things that might clear up for a "healthy" person in a week or two might take Dad a month or two based on his overall poor physical condition and the effects of the Parkinson's disease. The nurse commented tonight that Dad was a real trooper, and was tolerating all of his treatments really well. I'm sure he will be thrilled to get the tube out of his throat, as he seems frustrated at his inability to speak...and who wouldn't be.

Thank you for all of your prayers. I'll update again tomorrow.