Changes

Things are changing - for the better!  Mom returned to work at the library yesterday.  Thankfully Dad has some really great friends and family who are willing to come hang out with him while she's at work.  I'm assuming the first day back to work went alright since they allowed her return today. 

Over the holidays Dad's TPN pump rate was increased where he'd get the same amount of nutrition in less time.  It was changed to 18 & 6, meaning he got to be unhooked between 8 and 2 (6 hours) and be "fed" the other 18 hours.  This made it a little easier for him to get out on Christmas to visit family and go to church this past Sunday.  Traveling with an IV pole can be a bit tricky.  Yesterday mom was able to unhook it before work and then come home on her lunch break to hang the new bag.  This past Monday they did the usual blood work (this is done every week), and everything looked good.  Today the pump rate was increased again; this time to 14 & 10.  He is able to be unhooked between 8:30 and 6:30 which is great!  Of course the ultimate goal is to be able to one day not have the TPN at all, but in the mean time our short-term TPN goal is to get to 12 & 12.  I'm under the impression that's the best it can get (12 on and 12 off). 

All is going well!

Merriest Christmas

We had an amazing Christmas. Christmas Eve started off a bit rocky when dad had some bleeding from the fistulas, but thankfully it stopped on it's own fairly quickly. The thought of having to return to Houston for Christmas was devastating. After the bleeding ceased we began our Christmas celebration and everything was perfect!

Opening Gifts At Home

Christmas with the Buzek Family at Aunt Connie's - playing cards with the guys

What a treat to add a couple ounces of strained chicken noodle soup to his minimal liquid diet.

I thought he'd probably used up his lifetime's worth of luck, but he did catch a few good hands and walked away from the poker table a full seven dollars richer.   :)

I didn't take nearly enough pictures to portray the wonderful time we all had.  Today dad was able to attend church for the first time.  We all were there together - what a perfect ending to our Christmas holidays.