Happy Autumn!

Dear Friends of Denny,

This weekend Dad's little sister, Sally and her husband, Pete, came up for a visit.  Dad had a great time with them. They were joined by Dad's sister Cathy, as well, so three of the four Cahill siblings had a mini-reunion.

Three of the four Cahill Siblings

Sally, Pete, and Dad visited, watched some football, and enjoyed fall walks. They were also able to enjoy the new creek-side gazebo that Steve John has been constructing for Dad. Dad is thrilled with it and has been keeping us posted on the progress (Steve did a lot of hard work!) He is excited to be able to sit down by the creek -- one of his favorite spots -- and read or visit, as he did with Sally and Pete.

Autumn in Bayside

On the phone in the gazebo

Gazebo by Steve John!

Unfortunately, the visit was a little disrupted by some issues with Dad's feeding tube. It gets blocked and clearing it requires a trip to the hospital. So, some of the visit took place at St. Joe's, but in the end, the doctors replaced the tube, and we hope that may have solved the problem!

Back Home!

Dear Friends of Denny--

Dad is finally home from St. Joe's. He had some trouble digesting his food and had to stay in the hospital for a few days. Luckily, Dad's feeding tube seems to now have been successfully replaced. This does seem to have helped with his coughing, so we are hoping that he will be sleeping better.

Thanks for keeping him your thoughts.
We hope that our next update will have more good news and pictures.
The Cahill Family

 

Dear Friends of Denny,

Dad went in for a small surgery yesterday to replace his feeding tube, which had been malfunctioning a bit. (Special thanks to Uncle Ron for helping get him to the hospital). It seemed to go well, but last night he had some trouble keeping food down, so he is back in the hospital today. So far everything seems okay, though he is a little dehydrated and pretty hungry. They are going to keep him overnight at St. Joe's to keep an eye on him. Please keep him in your thoughts.

Up until that point, things had been going fairly smoothly. Dad definitely gets frustrated by limitations at times, but he is hanging in there. He enjoys seeing his lunch buddies every Friday, and still appreciates those of you who stop by to visit. He has been reading quite a bit about the Lewis and Clark expedition. Son-in-law Bill sent him a copy of the Ken Burns documentary of the expedition, and son Kevin gave him a book about bears and Lewis and Clark. Steve John has been helping put together a gazebo and bench for Dad, so he can sit down by the creek and do his reading with a beautiful view (we'll have pictures soon!)

Dad enjoying some time at the Sequoia Park Duckpond (thanks to his caregiver, Mike for the picture)

We'll keep you posted regarding Dad's condition this weekend. We certainly hope that all is well with you and yours.