Be Positive

   

    My Children put up such better posts than I do.  They are not as computer illiterate  as I am.  They can put pictures and videos up. 

     Randy had a nurse today, in fact he has had her for the last two days.  She is so sweet and positive.  She says positive things about his improvement and I am sure Randy hears it too.  Positive reinforcement is so good for all of us.  At this hospital you can fill out "High Five Notes" for employees that go the extra mile.  I have filled out some and when they get them I can see a change in the staff.  They become even better that they were before.  This applies to all of us, with praise we improve and want to be better and when we  criticize we regress.  I hope Randy hears her praise, along with all his families praise on how well he is doing.  He is slowly improving.  His fever is going down, his white blood count in his blood is too.  He is moving his arms and neck a little, and he moves his jaw, like he is chewing or trying to talk.  His leg movement and eye opening are a little less.  

    My sweet daughter, Trisha, made a poster for him.  It is titled, "Get to know my Dad" It has pictures of him, camping, hiking, hunting, waterskiing, spending time with his children and grandchildren.  It has some of his favorite quotes, like "Life is good" and "If you're going to be dumb you got to be tough."  All the staff has only seen him when he is laying there, so now they will see what kind of guy he really is. Good job Trisha. :)

Angels Among Us

Dad was running a fever today. Trisha, Doug, and I went and saw him around 8 pm tonight, we talked with mom on the way over and she said she hasn't seen him move his feet today or open his eyes in the last couple of days.  Whenever Dad gets sick, he seems to digress some, I guess his body is busy fighting infection instead of regrowth of his myelin sheath around those nerves. DARN!  We went in expecting little since we knew he wasn't feeling well.  The good news is maybe Trisha and I are just loud and annoying enough to get a little rise out of him, because he moved his right foot, both his arms a little ( I have never seen him move those), moved his jaw some, turned his head from the side to the middle of the pillow, and we even got to see a little eye, just the right one.  He still has a fever but it did come down a little bit tonight from today.  They switched him to a high calorie diet instead of a high protein diet, hopefully to put a little bit of weight back on him.  His hands seemed to be less swollen today as well.
The last conversation I had with my Dad before he got sick, we were talking about the after life, he told me that there was no doubt in his mind that our ancestors are on the other side, and are very much involved in our lives here on this earth, he said he believed they were all around us, helping us out in times of need and trials.  A few years ago, as many of you know, my Dad lost his younger brother Mike unexpectedly,  they were very close and this was really hard on my dad.  It gives me peace to know that he has someone really close to him on the other side helping him through this difficult time, there is no doubt in my mind he is there, along with his Dad and many others who have passed before him.  I'm grateful, he had a testimony of that and shared that with me right before all this happened.  It seems that God knows what the future holds, and what we need to hear to get us through it.

Here's a song that seemed fitting to me:

Here's the link if it doesn't work because I am computer dumb :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_4Xfj2LRSA

Still got the fever

     Randy had a hard day today.  He is still running a low grade fever.  The respiratory therapist tried to take him off the ventilator.  It only lasted about 15 minutes, then they had to put him back on again.  They gave him some morphine,  a very small dose, but it still wipes him out.  They thought that would help him be able to stay off the ventilator longer, in case his high respirations were because of pain.  No , it didn’t work so they put him back on.  When he is fighting anything else except the Bickerstaff Encephalitis he can’t do much.  He didn’t even open his eyes, or move his feet at all.  Kind of discouraging but I know all will work out in the end.  Thanks for all your prayers. 

Pneumonia .... again

     They have been trying to wean Randy off the ventilator for the last few days.  Yesterday he started to run a fever.  Today they did a chest X-Ray and found a little bit of fluid in one lobe of his lungs.  They started him on a different type of antibiotic and turned his ventilator up to support his breathing better.  This is the third time they have tried to turn his ventilator down and the third time he has developed fluid in his lungs after doing it.  I think I will point that out to the Dr. tomorrow when I see him.  They need to wean  him off it at a slower pace.    When he gets  pneumonia all his movements slow down.   It is frustrating to me, but on the whole he is moving a little more all the time. 

     Another thing that is weird about this illness is that one day he will be moving his feet a little and then the next few days he won’t move them at all and he will turn his head or twitch his arms a little.  Just because he can move one thing one day doesn’t mean he will be able to do it tomorrow. 

     Thank you for fasting and praying for him today.  I appreciate it. I told him that they were doing a stake wide fast for him.  I hope he heard me. 

Physical Therapists or Physical Terrorists?

    Today the PT, (Physical Therapist) came in and worked with Randy.  He is trying to wake him up and have him move his muscles.  One of the first ways peoples muscles work is to annoy him so they have a withdrawal from things they don’t like,  like cold or pain.  He put a ice pack on his head.  Randy moved his head to withdraw from it.  Then he put it on his arms and legs, he moved them also.  Yes he didn’t like it,  but he moved to get away from it. 

    They said he would be worn out for about 3 days after they moved him and that has been  true.  He has moved less since the move.  Today will be three days so it will be interesting to see if he starts moving more today.   

     They are trying to wean him off the ventilator.  When they tried before it was unsuccessful.  He wasn’t ready yet.  They are doing it a little slower this time.   

       I hung the “Get well Bishop, We Love You” pictures up of the Primary in his room.  I showed them to him when he had an eyes ½ way open moment.  I think he liked them.  I know the nurses did. 

      Please remember him in your prayers this fast Sunday .  I think when you fast and pray it is like prayers on steroids.  I can’t wait to see how much he improves after this week .

       Thank you for all the service that you have been doing for our family.  We really appreciate it. 

Only for the Princesses

Randy had a "tired" day today.  They said this might happen.  When you move someone it really wears them out and they don't do much for about 3 days.  This is his second day from the move from St. Marks Hospital.  He wouldn't open his eyes or move much of anything for anyone.  I told the Physical Therapist that he only moves for the Princesses.  (This means his daughters or daughters in law.)  Lisa, one of the Princesses, came in tonight.  She started talking to him and he tried to open his eyes.  He only got one of them 1/2 way open but he tried.   He also tried to open them when Richard and Janel came to visit him  this morning. Yep, they are some of the Princesses.

New people working with Dad

     When Kati has a date or homework she doesn't blog, therefore she had a date and I am filling in for her.  I am getting to know all the new people working with Randy.  They are also great.  I'm educating them on his treatment and care.  He seems to be about the same.  Richard and Janell  drove 14 hours(one way) to see him because it is their fall break. Thanks for your prayers