Today was a pretty quiet day with Dad.  He still had great stats - with blood pressure and temperature both normal.   He was relaxed and had lots of rest, which is what he needs the most. 

This morning our family all attended Jeff's daughter Bella's baptism, which was a very special event.   Bella was baptized by Dale's son Jace, which made it an extra memorable occasion.  Dad's dear friend Kent Bawden agreed to sit with Dad all morning and into the early afternoon so that we could all attend the baptism.  We would like to thank him for this loving service that he gave.  We are sure that Dad appreciated having his companionship as well.

Today the ventilator was turned completely off and Dad was breathing great on his own, with just an oxygen mask covering his tracheotomy. He still had to be suctioned out periodically, but was not struggling to breathe at all. They do plan on putting the ventilator on through the night for added help and protection, however.

The doctors also removed the spinal fluid drain from Dad's spine today.  It has been a couple of days since Dad has had any spinal fluid leaking from his nose and the drain was no longer draining properly anyway, so they opted to remove it.  The hope is, of course, that the leaks in Dad's membrane have sealed, but there is no way of knowing that for certain at this point.  If he begins leaking spinal fluid from his nose again, then they will replace the drain in his spine.

The doctors had decreased Dad's sodium level to help reduce the swelling in Dad's brain.  Now that the brain injury appears to not be growing, they have increased his sodium once again to allow his brain to normalize in size.  They said that if the brain itself has expanded a bit, it may be filling in the leaks in the membrane and allowing them to heal.  It would certainly be wonderful if the cerebral spinal fluid leakage is no longer an issue.

With the spinal drain out, Dad was cleared today for physical therapy.  We are expecting him to begin that tomorrow.  They hope to get him up out of bed and trying to walk  a little in the next day or two.  When I told this to Dad and asked him if he was ready to get out of bed, he shook his head "no" at me.  He is probably still feeling so very weak and sore. 

A few of us noticed that Dad seemed a little down today.  He just looked sad.  I can't even imagine how difficult it must be for him to be going through what he is.  Not able to talk or get out of bed, in pain, and maybe even unsure of what is going on.  Not to mention being stuck in the boring hospital.  So I tried to think of something that might lift his spirits a bit.   I asked him if he would like to listen to some music and he nodded his head.  I had his ipad there, so I downloaded Pandora and played religious and classical music to him for an hour.  It was amazing to me to see how much this calmed him.  He moved his head toward the music and closed his eye and just listened.  His blood pressure quickly dropped by 15 points.   When I turned the music off after an hour his blood pressure went back up. It was still in the normal range, but I was just amazed by how quickly the music caused those physical changes. 

Ashley also provided a service to him when she offered him a foot rub with lotion.  We could tell that he liked that as well.  In fact, after she finished she asked if he would like another foot rub and he again nodded.  Hopefully we can find other little things that will help him to be more comfortable and at peace through this healing process. 

It is hard to see a man who has given so much to so many of us suffer so greatly.  But we are so grateful that he is improving.  The Dr. today reiterated to me that he is still in critical condition and will remain classified as such as long as he is in the ICU.  However, he also told me that he was doing much, much better than he was earlier this week when he was so sick.  In fact, he told me that during that setback things were very "dicey" for Dad.  We are grateful for all of the prayers that are being given, heard, and answered in Dad's behalf.  Thank you to all of you.