9/18 update

Sorry for the lag in updates. I was so busy before I left that I just didn't find the time to sit down and write.

As of this afternoon, my dad was still in the ICU. The breathing tube was taken out on Saturday I think. While that's good because he can now talk to us in a barely audible whisper (due to the throat irritation of the tube), he is now cranky, in a lot of pain, and coughing with the most rattly chest I have ever heard. They are trying to wean him off of the epidural and onto oral pain meds, but they are making him very delusional.

He is having a moderately hard time breathing on his own, but that is to be expected with the pneumonia and the broken ribs. It was painful listening to him breathe, but hopefully the intense respiratory therapy they are giving him will help. My mom emailed me today and said my dad's latest thing is to pull out the nasal feeding tube. The nurses used to fight over who was going to care for him, but somehow I bet that isn't happening anymore! He is talking now and says himself that his own stupidity got him where he is, and he keeps asking my mom to take him home. He has an unknown length of time before that is even a possibility. I think next up for him is loads of rehab in the hospital once he is moved to the ward.

All in all, he is very slowly improving, although to us the last couple of days have seemed a bit worse since he is now awake and alert and realizing his pain. I am now back in Rochester, although not altogether with it since I flew back on a red-eye, went straight to work, and then taught tonight (which I absolutely loved for those who are wondering). The big news in my life (and don't tell my dad if you happen to visit him) is that I'm coming back to Portland for a couple of months to help care for my dad. I'm here getting things settled and I hope to be back in Portland within 2 weeks or so. I am blessed to have some amazing people in my life who have made coming back to Portland a possibility for me. I'm taking a leave of absence from school and I'll be telecommuting some for UR and filling in the rest with my old job at PRE in Portland. My dad is going to need an immense amount of care, and my mom just can't do it alone. I'll help care for him until he's doing much better, and I'll start classes again in January.

Thanks for all of your postive thoughts.