Long time no blog! First of all my Daddy is still home, so that makes a record for him. He is just taking one day at a time and is on the slow path to recovery from all that he has gone through. Yesterday they went to see Dr. Fowler at his office and he threatened to send Daddy back to the hospital for observation because he has been bleeding from his chest. Daddy would hear nothing of it, so they will be going back to let the nurse look at him on Thursday and then Dr. Fowler will see him again on Friday. He is still very weak and can't even sit up in bed without help. It just breaks my heart to see him so helpless still. I think we all must have thought as soon as he got home he would be instantly better, but that is not the case at all. He is taking tiny baby steps everyday to get stronger. His body was simply put through too much. I have faith that my strong Daddy will build his strength back, it is just going to take lots of time and patience!

Well Easter came and went and I didn't even post a single note or picture of my wonderful family! We all had a wonderful day full of egg hunts, food and family! The day was glorious and I don't think we have ever had a prettier Easter! My kids hated dressing up, if you could call it that, but I think they looked so sweet. Those Easter duds didn't last long as they changed quickly into their "play clothes" so they could enjoy themselves in comfort! I don't blame them a bit!

Drum roll please!!!!!!! My Daddy is finally HOME!!!!!!!

Friday, April 3 (just one day shy of making this hospital journey five months long) my parents got the discharge papers to escape Greenville Memorial Hospital! With the help of some wonderful nurses and doctors they were really and truly (and we hope for good) able to go home! It was such a sunny and beautiful day! We couldn't have asked for better spring weather. The grass was bright and green and all of the trees were blooming. It was a perfect day. The trip home was exhausting and took all the energy they had. By the time I got to their house, after stopping to get prescriptions filled and gathering some groceries, I found them pooped and in a daze.

Not long after arriving I was unpacking their van and took their dirty clothes bag to the laundry room and found a lovely surprise. The room was flooded from a leak behind the washing machine. On an average normal day this would send my poor mother into a tail spin. I hated to tell them of the mess I found. Luckily my uncle Bruce came over and made the repair and Craig brought over a floor drying machine (large fan). We had everything all dried up and I spent the night with them. Sadly the wood floor in their hall way is all buckled and bowed. Don't know what they are going to do with insurance to get it all repaired, but they will have to do something.

The main thing on the agenda is getting my Daddy well and strong. The other stuff will just have to work itself out in time. On Sunday Max and I cleaned out their flower beds and planted some flowers for them to enjoy. Daddy walked outside to watch us and direct our weed pulling and got sunburned from the short visit outdoors. The antibiotics he is taking make his skin very sensitive. Lesson learned. I think going outside spent all of his energy in a major way. Monday was spent in the bed. Mother said he didn't even have the energy to get out of bed at all.

Today I met them at Dr. Fowler's office to get a good look at his wound changings and to hear what the doctor had to say. Amazingly things are looking great and healing wonderfully! Thankfully the extra "little" surgery Daddy had on Tuesday worked and the skin has healed nicely. Lord, it really looked so much better! I was amazed!

Daddy's surgery went perfectly. He had to have another skin graft from his left leg and placed at the top of his chest where the black yucky stuff was removed. The doctor had to call from the operating room to ask permission to do this procedure since it wasn't something that Daddy signed for and agreed to prior to surgery. We had to agree with the doctor and give him the ok. What else could we do? You wouldn't have believed how good Daddy looked when he came back from surgery. Within 25 minutes of coming back to the room he was sitting up, eating a big bowl of chicken gumbo and a peanut butter sandwich. I was impressed. He was then able to stand and walk to the recliner in the room. He looked great! Last night was rough for him and the pain began to set in. He had to ask for a couple of pain pills . . . bless his heart.
We actually walked Daddy outside and sat in front of the hospital, at the flag pole and enjoyed a few minutes of sunshine today. My parents were like cats sunning themselves! I went to the McDonald's across the street and got them an ice cream sundae. It was a really nice afternoon, but Daddy was exhausted after his walk outside. We actually passed one of his nurses on our way out and she thought he was running away! I wish we could!
Doctor Fowler came in today and didn't even take the dressings off of Daddy's chest. He commented on how well Daddy looked and said that he might get to go home of Friday or Saturday. Yahoooooo! Daddy's leg wound has reduced in "tunneling" size and in lymph fluid output. That is soooooo wonderful. In fact the wound nurse, Mary Ann, said that it was looking so well that he might get to loose the wound vac on Friday when she changes the dressings. That would be fabulous and then some! It is such a big bunch of mess (and quite an expense) to get a rental wound vac and a miracle to have a proper home health care nurse who is really schooled in how to take care of such a condition. Everything is coming together and we feel so blessed and fortunate. Daddy is scared to get too excited. He thinks they will look at his chest on Friday and decide if he needs another week in the hospital for observation. That would totally stink! I am choosing to think positive and decided to pack up some of their stuff today and put it in their van. That will make going home easier on my parents who have enough to worry about. Everything is riding on Friday, so keep your fingers crossed and say a big prayer!