February 18th:
I got to the hospital at 6:15 A.M. so that I could meet and talk to dads drs. Dad called me at 3:30 A.M. When I asked him what was wrong he said nothing, he just couldn't sleep and didn't know what time it was. We had a good laugh about that.
Dad ran a fever last night and woke up to find his left ankle the size of a softball with pain. The Dr. prescribed something for the fever and ordered an ultra sound to find out if the swelling were blood clots. 8:00 A.M. Dad took his swallow test. We then waited until 7:00 P.M. for two of his Drs. to come in.
We found out that the swallow test did not show any large leaks. Great news. The Dr. then removed the tube going down dads nose into his stomach. Dad was so happy to have that removed. The ankle swell is gout.
Before I left tonight the night nurse was giving dad sips of grape juice. The Drs. told us that if there are any pin hole leaks the grape juice will show in the chest tube catch container or it will come out of his neck incision.
Tomorrow we will know more if there are leaks and I hope to sit down with his surgeon Dr. Anderson. Tomorrow will be one week in the hospital. Dad continues to amaze me, he never complains unless it is a lack of sleep.
We continue to take it one day at a time. Thank you for prayers.
Steve