My Dad

My Dad went in yesterday to a hospital in fort worth for a tracheotomy. They kept him over night for observation. Hopefully he will get to go home sunday. As it stands right now, his surgery is scheduled for the 12th so he's going to have to live with the trachea until then. But my understanding now is he will now have a trachea for the rest of his life. He has a tumor on his voice box. It is making it hard to breathe and swallow. They will be removing his voicebox on the 12th. My mom told me the doctors think it is cancerous. They took biopsies yesterday to learn more about it and we don't know the results yet. They are going to start radiation a few weeks after the surgery.

They said he should be able to regain speech but we don't know how or what all that entails. A nurse yesterday said it could involve breathing on sticks that vibrate to make sounds. Thats all I know as of right now.

I am not sure if he's out of the ICU yet. He was miserable when we left last night. That said, he is doing good. No fever. The medicine is giving him dry mouth and he can't swallow yet so he can't drink water. He's not in pain... Or enough that he wants meds.

He is coherent. Looked at me last night and i could tell he recognized me and Nodded when I told him I loved him and that I was taking care of mom as best I could. He was doing really well all things considered.

As for me, I have cried a little. The finality of all this is setting in. What I thought would be a temporary battle for him is looking like a lifetime one and I don't want my Dad to suffer. He is such a good and kind man. Always putting others before himself. He is a man of few words so of all things that can go wrong... It could be worse. That said I don't have to learn to breathe through a tube in my throat so what do I know! :) I understand God has a plan. My dad is very spiritual and has a deep understanding of god's love and he has always trusted in that and I am trying to do the same. I know that some of dad's actions in the past probably led to this... But I don't blame him. In my eyes, he can do no wrong.

He will be able to talk with the the trachea until his surgery on the 12th. Which i am so thankful for as the last words he spoke to me were "i love you too sweetheart." while those are the best words I could ever hear, i am not ready for "last words". Please pray that somehow they can preserve some of his vocal cords. Just the smallest amount would make a huge difference. And to quote my mom, "anything's possible.. Maybe not probable.. But definitely possible."

Say a prayer for him and his doctors. Thank you so much!

Sorry for any typos, I used my thumbs on my iPhone!