"One Tough Dude"

"I'm one tough dude," my dad told me this weekend.

He is still in the ICU working on properly healing his dura.  He is able to sit up in bed and he even got out of bed and rode around in the wheelchair last night.

I promise he was way more excited about it than he appears to be in this photo.  Dr. Chang has a lumbar drain installed in his back to divert fluid that may otherwise go into his head and inhibit healing at his incision points.  This is the drain:

So far it seems to be working.  There was evidence of a small amount of fluid leaking from his scalp on Friday, but I think Saturday it was dry.  No update yet today.  Dr. Chang says if it's leaking early this week he will consult with a plastic surgeon and see if a fourth surgery is necessary to stop the leaking.  Right now we are taking things slowly and hoping that another surgery can be avoided.

As usual, Mike and Eleanor are always here for support, food and fun.  From 6:00 pm-8:30 pm the ICU kicks all visitors out and makes them go home and take showers or something.  We had a nice cocktail and dinner.

This morning, either before or after the "one tough dude" comment, Dad put the hurt on some doughnuts and Starbucks.

That's what I call tough.

Thanks for checking in.