Hello! I hope everyone had a great week! Dad is doing great! He has been busy all week. He has at least 3 appointments a day. Between the physical therapy, occupational therapy and nurses he has hardly had any time to rest. However, it does not seem to be bothering he that much. He is getting more energy every day. He is also eating more than I have ever seen him eat. It is great, he really needs the weight. He had his feeding tube removed from his stomach yesterday. It was pretty uneventful but dad is glad to have it gone. That is the last tube to come out so we are pretty excited. It is a long way from the 5 or 6 that used to be in him. He loves all the visitors and phone calls so keep it going. Fathers Day will be extra special for us tomorrow and I want to thank you all for the support and prayers.

GREAT NEWS!! Dad is home!!! He arrived yesterday afternoon. It was a hectic crazy day and that all continues today. Yesterday we had to get dad packed and ready to go. However, he could not leave until the oxygen was at the house. Of course they took forever. Then nick and I had to run all over town trying to collect all the medications he needed. When we finally got settled and unpacked we were all so tired and had no motivation to write on the blog. Today we are being visited by occupational and physical therapist. They are doing evaluations on the house and tips to make it safer and easier to get around. We all trip over dads oxygen tubes so that is still being worked out. During all that craziness my mom and best friend are flying in for my birthday!! Dad seems to be handling everything really well and is so excited to be home!! Thank you all for your support and prayers. It is really a miracle that I can report this kind of good news. Feel free to stop by for a visit!!

Great News. Dad has been cleared to come home on Friday! He is doing great in physical therapy and they feel he can continue to do better at home. They also took the trech out today so he is officially breathing on his own!! (He is on a little bit of oxygen but that's OK). I am busy trying to get the house prepared for his arrival. Things like handles all over the bathroom and removing anything he can trip on. Dad is so excited to get home. He calls every hour with a question concerning his getting out. He is a little concerned because it has been so long but he will do great. It has been a long journey and I could not be happier to be bringing him home. Thank you all for your support and prayers. Everyone being there for us has made all the difference and has really helped me get through this hard time.

Good Evening!! Everything is going great around here. Dad is really moving in physical therapy. He is climbing stairs and working on balancing without the walker. He is still strongly disliking the facility he is in, but we are working to get better. The trech is still in and no one in that place knows what to do with it. Luckily dad was paying attention so he can instruct the nurses on how to care for it. I brought him a chicken sandwich for dinner tonight. He is really getting sick of the food there. Hopefully he will not be there much longer!!

Hello everyone. Dad is doing pretty good at the new place. The staff is a little unhelpful and dad thinks they are trying to kill him. On his defense there have been a few times they forgot to give him oxygen. Its better that he does not need the best life, saving nurses anymore. But it does make him a little anxious to not have that kind of attention. On the plus side, the physical therapy is great. Today he had to climb stairs and ride a recumbent bike. He is feeling much stronger and is working to get home. He says the food is not that great so I snuck him in some ice cream. I think I will sneak him some Popeye's chicken tomorrow!! Unfortunately, they do not have internet access so dad can not write, but he really wishes he could. We thank everyone for theirs prayers and support. Hopefully he will be home soon!!

Hi. Dad is now in the rehab facility. It was a crazy day getting everything packed up and getting dad ready to go. Then the craziness continued once we got there. About twenty people had to come in to introduce themselves. Dad got a quick tour and then had to sleep. I talked to him a little while ago and he said he was doing good. He now goes to a dining room to eat with everyone else. He said the food is not great but it is nice to see other people. They should be very aggressive with his physical therapy here so hopefully he will get strong fast. Our next goal is to get him ready to go home. They don't think he will be here for very long so that is very encouraging. He is now at the Briarwood Health Care facility. It is at 1440 Vine St Denver, CO 80206 and he is in room 324. Thank you all for sticking with us dad is looking forward to doing more blogs once he gets more settled.

Report from Steve

Howdy everyone, this is Steve! Got Intermet acess and stuff caught up so thought I would drop you all a note. I'm currently currently incarcerated at Kindred Hospital here in Denver. It is a nice place and I'm getting excellent care. They are doing breathing, speech and physical therapy so they keep me pretty busy. I'm feeling well but do get a little tired by the end of the day. I seem to get stronger and more energetic each day.

I would like to send my heartfelt thanks to everyone out there on the blog for all the support you have provided. I feel that it is your thoughts and prayers that brought me through my crisis. I am moved beyond words at how people have shown their concern and care. I have so much to be thankful for.

It is so wonderful to have Andi and Nick here to take care of my sorry carcass. Andi has painted the bathroom, cleaned up the patio and is planting some veggies in the garden. Nick is keeping busy fighting back the yard. Nothing like three days of rain followed by 80 degree days to get the grass crop thriving. Brother Keith is supposed to be through next week as he heads toward
Sheridan on his motorcycle. I think he is trying to kill me from envy. Brother Dave is planning a visit soon and Andrea's friend Gillian and Cathy are coming up from Phoenix in a couple of weeks. Things will be happening at the Bartenhagen motel.

Lunch is here so need to take a break. Again, thanks to all you wonderful people! I will add more later. And thanks to Andi fro startingand maintaining the blog.

All the best,
Steve