Dear Friends,

Dad has made a smooth transition into his new rehab facility and seems to be making some good progress. He still is fighting off various infections, but is right back into a therapy routine.

Each morning he sees the speech, occupational, and physical therapists. He is working on rebuilding his core strength by spending time sitting up in a wheelchair (two hours yesterday, an hour and fifteen minutes today). The speech therapist is doing exercises with him to strengthening his throat muscles. She has also been working with him to help him print letters, so he can communicate in writing while his speaking muscles recover.

Some of you have asked about visiting, and we truly appreciate all of your care and concern, but at this time Dad is still very ill. When he is stronger and less immune compromised, we will send out an update on the blog, and Dad will certainly appreciate the company at that time.

A Big Move!

Dear Friends of Denny,

Some good news. Yesterday Dad moved from Shasta Regional Medical Center to another long term care facility in Walnut Creek.  We are so grateful to the folks at the SRMC ICU for the amazing care that Dad received there.  We are especially thankful for the generous hospitality of Dad's niece, Megan Maher Belcastro, and her husband, Chris, who opened their home and hearts to us (especially Aunt Pam) while we were in Redding! From feeding us amazing meals and letting us relax in their pool after long days at the hospital to giving all of us, including Dad, lots of moral support, they were amazing. So big thank yous to them! We are also grateful to the two women who made his ambulance trip down to Walnut Creek as comfortable as possible and delivered him safely.

Although tired, he is back to being alert and trying to communicate as much as he can with nods and hand signs. He is still on the ventilator, but that was primarily to make the move easier for him. We anticipate that he will be off of it very soon.

Mom and Christine (Dad's favorite blue-eyed daughter) are with him today. They report that the staff at Walnut Creek facility has already impressed them. They were met by the floor charge nurse and learned that the respiratory and speech therapists had already been in to see Dad this morning. The physical therapists came in and worked with him a bit as well. Everyone was welcoming and professional, so we are feeling very good.  Dad is very weak as a result of being laid up by the infections, but we know that he is strong and strong-willed. We are also heartened by the progress he had already made before the setback and so are optimistic. Please keep sending those good thoughts and prayers his way!


Some people have had trouble signing onto the blog to make comments, so if you'd like send your thoughts in a card, you can send them to him
c/o Kindred Transitional Care and Rehabilitation - Walnut Creek
1224 Rossmoor Parkway
Walnut Creek, CA 94595-2501

If you'd prefer to do it electronically, you can send them to his email, oceanden@gmail.com. While he won't receive them right away, they will be waiting for him as he recovers further.

Mom has been watching the Giants' games with Dad. We are sure that he is excited about their divisional title and is looking forward to some good postseason play!

Making Progress!

From Mom (Pam): Today Dad is doing good.  He was put back on the vent for the evening and will be taken off later this morning.  Yesterday he was breathing on his own with just air to his nose, but not forced in, until 8 pm.  We watched the game together and I think he was kind of watching it, too.  He can move his head to signal yes and no and is moving his right foot & leg again.  His right arm - he is able to lift it and put it back down.  He sometimes seems to signal with it, but we're not quite sure.  All signs are good and the nurses have told me that he is ok'd to move out of the ICU, but we are waiting for a bed. Thanks to everyone who is keeping us in their thoughts!

The Fight Continues

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers for Dad. It has been a tough week since last Wednesday. All three kids managed to come up and give Dad the strength to continue to fight.

He is still in the ICU with 3 infections, two in his lungs and 1 in his blood. Dad was fairly stable this week, but still having trouble breathing and was not digesting food. A CT Scan was ordered to check his gut and found no problem. Medication was given to "wake up" his digestive tract and he has begun to digest again, thank god. But while they figured out the digestion issue, the scan showed something surprising: He seemed to have an empty space where the left lung should be. The X-ray had not shown anything, so the Dr. was a bit surprised. The empty space contained infected fluid and food remains that was flattening Dad's lung. They decided to insert a tube into his lung cavity to drain out the liquid and air so that the lung could expand back into that space. They will do another CT Scan on Monday to see if the lung is in fact expanding again. Mom said today his breathing was already much improved. He is on the respirator with 35% oxygen now which is much better than last week when he was on 100%.

It has been extremely frustrating for all of us, but especially for Dad as he was just about ready to move down to the Bay Area to begin the next phase of rehabilitation. This has set him back to square 1.  I do not need to tell you all how strong-willed my Dad is, so this set back will hopefully only be a bump in the long road. Again, thanks for all of the good will; it continues to help dad and all of the rest of us get through this.

Dear Friends,

Please continue to keep Dad in your thoughts and prayers. He is back in the ICU after contracting aspirational pneumonia after a feeding tube incident. He's working hard to get his breathing back to normal. We are all here to urge him on and give him support, but he can use all the help he can get right now.