A moment for my dad?

Question

My dad, 76, went into the hospital just over two weeks ago with bad abdominal pain. For five days no one knew what was wrong-but they suspected a bowel obstruction. Because they felt his life was at risk, they performed an exploratory surgery-big operation-and found his appendix had long since bust and his bowels, etc were impacted and in shock. He's been in a critical care hospital room since for 9 days. Because he suffers from Alzheimers- and his age- the recovery is slow. He's gone from being a funny, above average functionality, and loving husband and dad, to a lost, muttering, shadow of himself who is being tube fed, just recently started opening his eyes, and is suffering with terrible bed sores and discomfort. We are there every day--talking to doctors and nurses, trying to get my dad to respond, wake up and fight against this....

Whatever your beliefs--if you could send positive thoughts or prayers to my dad Paul, I would be grateful. He could use all the positive thoughts and energy he can get.

Thanks...

Answer 1

I'm sorry to hear this about your dad and what he is currently experiencing.

I haven't dealt with anything like this before so bear with me, here are some ideas that I hope can help with the situation over there...

- Does your dad have a favorite song? Perhaps something that lights up the mood and is soothing, easy on the ears for his delicate, fragile senses right now.

- You said his eyes started opening recently. Find any old homemade videos or funny family moments you could, put it together and create a montage to remind him of the happy times. It could light up his mood and memories (since he suffers from Alzheimer's it may be a good choice in assisting his memory as well)  with possibly surprising effects to his recovery. As the cliche says, laughter is the best medicine.

- Give him a gentle massage everyday, although you should probably consult your doctor first on whether it'd be suitable or not.  It's a great way to comfortably stimulate the tissues, nerves and so on.  While doing so, you or another family member could read him a nice short story, something warm and lovely like Robert Munsch's "Love You Forever". (Google it if you have no idea)

Alright, that's it. Like I said, I've never dealt with anything like this before so this just came right the top off my head. I'm also not very clear with rules at the hospital so hopefully these are appropriate to your convenience. Wish your family the best of luck and your dad a quick and healthy recovery.

Answer 2

poor you

Answer 3

Dear Lord that we ask you to be with this kid ma'ma's father and hope that he is blessed with warm thoughts and please make sure he gets better. Amen.

How was that?

Answer 4

Hope he gets better real soon

Answer 5

Hi...be strong! When in trouble you should not try solving it by yourself you should lift it up to someone you know Who can make your dad better. God can move mountains....keep on praying dear,believe first and you will SEE! He is the greatedt Healer of all, I am not being religious here I am just a believer, it happened to me, ask Jesus.