Hiccups Suck

Ever present today, besides his daughter, were the hiccups. Apparently this is pretty common after neurosurgery, but they don't know why. He was still hiccuping when I left, which made it hour 6 of solid hiccups. Hopefully he can relax and switch up the rhythm of his breathing a bit to stop the hiccups.

In talking with the on-call neurosurgeon as he made evening rounds, he was pleased that Dad had 30 minutes of "good" today. He said that was really encouraged with that, and that we should look for the same or maybe a little more time tomorrow. As Dad was barely keeping awake sitting in the chair for dinner, he said that the poor guy is probably just really fatigued, and sitting up and some occupational therapy this afternoon really wore him out. By the time dinner came around, he was in quite a bit of pain and almost too exhausted to eat.

I did escape out to the Saint Francis Peace Garden on the Saint Mary's campus, and it was quite peaceful indeed. Above is a picture that I did not take (I haven't downloaded the pictures yet). I do like my picture a bit better, but it's now downloaded yet. Plus this one had flowers in it. The flowers aren't quite planted yet, as Minnesota is coming into summer. I'll download it tomorrow. Despite being up at the hospital almost nine hours today, it didn't really feel like that long of a day. It is such a nice hospital, and everyone is so nice, that time just kind of passes without too much effort.

We did find out this evening that Dad's dear friend Dick Rae lost his battle with cancer this afternoon. Dad talked to him pretty much daily, and they were each other's support system. He's going to take the news really hard, and we're trying to figure out the best time to tell him. Our hearts are a bit heavier tonight for Mary Rae and their family.

Tomorrow we hear from social work, see our neurosurgeon (it wasn't his turn to be on call this weekend), and more rehab for Dad.