Dad

As some of you know already, my dad had to have emergency surgery on his colon 3 weeks ago and wouldn't be able to do much for 6-8 weeks. With the condition of my mom's health, she isn't able to take care of him so I went home to Florida to take care of them for 3 weeks. My dad was not recovering as predicted and I had to take him to the surgeon several times in only a week and half and then on Monday our home health nurse noticed a change while putting on a new dressing. She recommended he be seen by the doctor that day if possible. they couldn't get us in till the next morning, which was yesterday and the doctor immediately admitted him and started running tests. It turns out that Dad had a ton of fluid built up on his stomach and we were very lucky they caught it in time. His white blood cell count was extremely high so they gave hims some plasma, began emptying his stomach and started prepping for surgery. I was thinking his belly looked much bigger and like he was going to have a baby. The surgeon had to go back in and see what was causing all this. They found he had 3 pockets of infection and a blockage. They removed everything but still aren't sure where the pockets were coming from so they left him on the ventilator last night and are monitoring him closely in the ICU. He's off the ventilator and says he feels better now than he did after the first surgery so that is good news! We think he will be in ICU for a day or two more and then on a general floor for at least another few. Originally I was going to head back to Portland via Kansas City next Tuesday, October 9th but it will probably be another couple of weeks now. He still has a long recovery and I want to do as much as I can to help out. It's hard to watch my parents age and as a result their health deteriorate, I'm just so glad I get so spend this time with them.

Alisha has been exploring Portland by herself and still trying to find a job. We've found it to be quite difficult to get even casual or temporary employment let alone a good job. I guess too many people have discovered it's a great place and no one leaves. That's a good thing, but bad for us right now. In the past few months a few of my friends have suffered the loss of loved ones, So despite the complications and set backs, we feel so blessed and grateful for all the love, support and prayers that have been sent our way. Thanks everyone! I wish I had some exciting news to share, but I don't so i'll just share that one of my closest friends Nanthida is pregnant again and I couldn't be happier!