Grandfather Update

I can't remember where we were last time I updated, so to cover my bases: he's in the Select Specialty Hospital now instead of the hospital he was first in in Erie, and he's slowly improving. He pulled his tracheostemy out on...I wanna say Sunday, and the doctor decided to cap up the hole. Basically, the next step is to put him in a nursing home to rehab to the point where he could come home. I'm not sure when that move to a nursing home would be, but I think within a few days. He still has confusion, like thinking that his hospital bed is a tractor, and the tall buildings outside his window are silos (once a farmer, always a farmer, I guess!), but still seems to do well with history and current events.

Pictures...this is the building he's in. He's on the third floor.

My dad, Annetta, Lydia, Hosanna, Joanna, and I went down about a week ago and hung out with Uncle Bill and Grandpa for a couple hours. We took the laptop with us so we could show him some pictures.


Then he had supper. It looked really gross, because it was all blended up, but he liked the yogurt.

And we (well...I) drew penguins on his little white board.

Interesting Pictures (Also titled: Some things are just better shared :) )

[And so finally, I got smart and plugged my camera into a different USB port, and IT WORKED! So now I have pictures on my computer and I shall commence blogging.]

One of my favorite parts of taking pictures is putting them on my computer and looking at them. One of my favorite parts of putting pictures on my computer and then looking at them is because sometimes I will run across a picture that a) I didn't take, b) I have no idea who took it, and c) I have no idea why they took it. Such was my reaction a few weeks ago, scrolling through photos on my camera. I was amused and intrigued. I thought I'd share these pictures so you can be similarly enriched.

Grandpa Update

Here's the Reader's Digest version :)

We'd continue to appreciate prayers for Grandpa. Last Wednesday night/Thursday morning, he went to the hospital. He's had breathing/throat problems for years, but nothing very serious...like he might have a choking/gasping spell once in a while, but it would only last a few minutes. Apparently, that night it was really bad, and he called 911. He gets confused at night, so he was confused and thinking that someone was in his house choking, but the ambulance came and got it all figured out. They were also able to track down our phone number and called my dad, so he went down right away. Then they went to the local hospital. Around 9 am they decided to send him to the hospital in Erie where there was a throat specialist, and he's been there ever since in the MICU.

They thought that the problem is some sort of growth/tumor, and so they scheduled a biopsy this morning. Uncle Bill went down there this afternoon, and so we have details, such as they are :) They did not find any tumor or mass or anything. They put in a temporary tracheostemy, which means that he no longer has breathing tubes and stuff hanging out of his mouth. Because it's temporary, they'll be able to seal it up and he will be able to breathe and talk normally.

He's sedated. They've kept him pretty much out of it, because when they start taking him off it, he starts trying to get out of bed. That's a bad thing because he's not supposed to try to get up, but it's a good thing because it means he's fighting. They are trying to get him awake more, and this afternoon he was able to respond to some things. For example, when the nurse asked him if he was in any pain, he responded no, and he also responded to questions/commands that Uncle Bill gave.

Anyhow...that's all I know. I am planning on doing some regular blogging (haha, when am I not?), and I do have some rather, ahem, interesting pictures I want to share with you all, so stay tuned!