Tuesday, January 12

Last Monday (1/4) dad went to the University of Iowa Hospital's Emergency Room because he was continuing to feel weaker and also had some swelling of his legs. They found that his blood oxygen was a little low and also discovered that he had developed some blood clots in his lungs. He was placed on Oxygen and blood thinners, but then started to have some other problems as well. On Wednesday he started developing severe belly pain and on Thursday they performed a decompression of the colon (colonoscopy) to relieve the pressure and this helped right away. He began to have some bloody noses on Thursday and Friday at which time they stopped the blood thinners. On Friday the belly pain returned and they performed another decompression - this time leaving in a nasogastric (ng) tube down the nose as well as a tube from the colon to help things exit properly. The belly issues seem to be something called Ogilvie's Syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogilvie_syndrome) and were treated accordingly. Over the weekend, they continued to keep him comfortable and the tubes did their job. On Monday the ng tube was removed and everything continues to function normally - the second tube will eventually pass on its own as it is not "attached" in any way. This morning he was cleared to start eating again, and we're hoping to go home tomorrow assuming everything continues to go well.

Dad would like to thank everyone who continues to think of him and pray for him.