I’m writing this from my dad’s room in the Intensive Care Unit… And while he’s still critical, and on a respirator, there are some fragments of good news.

First off, though, thanks to everyone for the kind words of support – they really mean a lot. And Em’s been amazing, as usual. My clients and colleagues have also been really supportive, which helps – it’s enough to worry about my parents, without also having to worry (too much) about work.

The neurologist assured us that there’s no evidence of any neurological/brain damage (beyond the remains of the stroke he had 11 years ago), so that’s one less thing to worry about. Moreover, his blood test results (enzyme counts, white blood cell counts, levels of bacterial infection, etc. – they run labs on him at least daily) are better than they’ve been since he was admitted. In fact, they’ve markedly improved since then. And at least one of the doctors thinks that his organs (particularly his pancreas) may be in slightly better shape. But all the same, the doctors have also warned us that he’s still *very* sick, and definitely not out of the woods yet…

Another positive, of sorts, is that when he’s awake, you can tell that he’s “all there” mentally. At least as much as someone in his condition can be. He’s still feverish and in pain from his illness, and in discomfort from being bedridden, with tubes running into him, and a machine doing most of his breathing. Plus, he’s almost always sedated – sometimes mildly, sometimes more heavily. Still, when he’s awake he squeezes my hand, looks at me sometimes, and nods and shakes his head in response to questions. Just a minute ago, I was holding his hand, looking into his eyes, and telling him to stay strong and keep fighting. Then a nurse came by and gave him another sedative, and now he seems to be asleep again. It’s probably best that he be asleep and/or sedated as much as possible – he needs rest more than anything, and it can’t be very pleasant to be conscious in his condition. On the other hand, it’s fantastic to know that he knows we’re all here, and can see and hear us. I hope that’s helping him through this.

No one knows yet why his pancreas failed – we’ve been told that we may never know. The medical term for this is “ideopathic”, which is Latin for “I dunno”. In a sense, this is good news – there are no gallstones (a leading cause of pancreatitis) to remove. So we just have to wait, and hope that he gets better in general, and that his pancreas improves its condition and function in particular. So far it’s been days and nights of watching and waiting, without much visible sign of change. We’re tired, and scared, but otherwise holding up as well as can be expected. I only hope to be able to write again soon, with even better news…