I had a wonderful day with my parents.  Dad laughed the whole time I was there, his voice was strong, and he felt really good until right before I got ready to leave.  He was teasing Mom a lot.  He was hungry all day.  He started out the day really confused, but he did remember several things that would be considered short term memories.  The nurse came in to weigh him, and he told her that she had already weighed him.  She said that she hadn't weighed him today, and he said again that she had.  She looked at him and said, "You're right - I weighed you out in the hall."  Do you remember how much you weighed?"  He said 253, and I thought he must be wrong, because Tuesday he weighed 245.9 pounds (which equaled a 30 pound weight loss for him).  He got on the scales, and it was 253.9 pounds.  That was probably the first thing he has remembered in weeks.  YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!  He still thinks he has seven bathrooms in his room, he asked Mom today if they were in a nursing home, and when he got tired tonight, he told her that he was going to their bedroom now.  She had to tell him they were spending the night in THIS room.  Even though we have a long way to go, a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.  The journey has officially begun.  PRAISE THE LORD FOR THE SMALL STEPS.

He has had a few problems today.  Mom said that an area right underneath his port was bleeding this morning when he got out of the shower.  She didn't say anything to the nurse about it this morning, and tonight she noticed that it was bleeding again.  She asked the night nurse, who apparently is not familiar with this type problem, so they are waiting for someone to tell them what needs to be done.  He also developed a headache right before I left, and then the area around his catheter started to give him a lot of pain.  Mom said that he hasn't had a good evening.  Hopefully he will get some relief from his pain, and then get some sleep tonight.  They only had to get up a few times last night.  Dad woke her up in the middle of the night and said that he had to go to the bathroom.  She guided him through all the IV tubes, they made their way into the bathroom, and then Dad looked at her and said, "OK, you sit down and go!"  She just looked at him and said, "YOU were the one who had to go to the bathroom, not me!"  She has managed to keep her sense of humor throughout this illness, and that is quite an accomplishment!

He has been changing out his hats - he is quite the "fashionista" now!  He has five hats that I have made him, and one hat that a sweet lady from church gave him.  She was worried about his cold head too.  I will post some pictures of him (by request!) soon.  Actually, I don't know how to - I have to let my computer savvy husband take care of that!
Two nights in a row of good news.........God is being very gracious, and I am SO VERY THANKFUL.

Love,
Renee