Sitting in a Chair...

Another good morning has arrived! Dad is up and sitting in a chair, with no oxygen required through any sort of mask or nose tubes! The physical therapists were working with him this morning to try and get him to walk, but he didn't do so well with that... He'll slowly build his strength back. He is also having a hard time swallowing still, so they are taking him to the respiratory part of the hospital to perform a Barium Swallow Test - An x-ray test used to examine the upper digestive tract (esophagus, stomach & small intestine)... Hopefully this will help them in determining where the swallowing difficulties are coming from. He was feeding himself ice chips when I spoke to the nurse.

Ann Thomas called me from his hospital room and I was able to talk to him again... He was easier to understand & more talkative today than yesterday. Most of what he said made sense (mostly describing his current health situation with being thirsty & having trouble walking), but he did say some weird things too... I told him that I was coming home to see him in a week and he said, "oh yeah, you probably need some money" (now most people would think this was normal coming from a dad to his daughter, but not in our situation, ha)... Then he said "mom was here last night, and dad's alive again so I need to.... (something I couldn't understand)"... Seems like he's dreaming a bit... Hopefully that's all it is. It's really hard handling those types of awkward conversation moments over the phone!

I'm still worried about his heart, and am anxiously awaiting an update from Dr. Jones. All seems well right now, and I am upbeat - However, his heart problems haven't just disappeared... Hmmmm...?!

I wanted to share with everyone a preface to the book The Journey by Billy Graham - Thula Davis gave this to me early in Dad's hospital stay

(Thanks, Thula!!), and I also found it to be a great message...

"You can't change the past. Whatever has happened in your life so far - both good & bad - cannot be altered, and all the decisions and events that have made you what you are today are indelibly inscribed in the story of your life. But with God's help you can change the future - and that's what this book is all about. The future doesn't need to be a copy of the past, nor does God want it to be. No matter what your life has been like so far, God wants to put your feet on a new path... His path. And regardless of what you may have thought, His path promises joy and peace and purpose far beyond anything you could have imagined."

Love y'all! Hallie