We have had a busy past few days.  My dad was admitted to the hospital on Monday and was put in to ICU on Tuesday.  Mom and Dad were in Dallas last week and came home on Tuesday.  On Monday, he started feeling bad and by Tuesday, he was worse.  First thing Wednesday morning he went to the doctor as he was retaining fluids and we didn't know why.  By Wednesday, he had retained 21 pounds in fluid since the end of March.

They put dad on a diuretic to help him lose some of the fluid but it didn't help.  By Sunday, he had only lost 3 pounds.  He went to his doctor on Monday and they told him they needed to run some test but because they would need preauthorization from the insurance company, it would be faster for him to go through the emergency room. 

The emergency room did a CT scan to see if dad had an intestinal blockage which came back negative, but did show a spot on his liver.  The spot is about two and half inches long which they say is pretty big.  They need to do a needle biopsy on it but because dad is on plavix for his heart, they have to take dad off of it for five days before they can do it. 

Dad just had an echocardiogram done while we were in Birmingham.  That test didn't show anything abnormal.  Dr. Evans, dad's GI doctor, ordered another one to be done on Tuesday.  That echocardiogram showed a blood clot in the right side of dad's heart, which is the reason he is in ICU.  They now have him hooked up to a heparin drip to try to help dissolve the clot.  At first we were told that the clot could be a tumor but now they are leaning back towards a clot.  We just won't  know for sure until the heparin has time to work and they are able to do another echocardiogram. 

The plan is for dad to stay in ICU over the weekend.  The are going to do the needle biopsy on Friday and because of the long weekend, we will more than likely not get the results until Tuesday.  Depending on what the biopsy shows will depend on what is next.

We appreciate all your phone calls, emails and texts to check on dad, but most of all we appreciate all your prayers.  We as a family have laid all of our worries at the feet of God for we know that it is in his control.  Dad is being showered in prayers and we have definitely felt them.  We are so thankful for Dr. Evans and how he felt the need to order another echocardiogram because there was really no need for him to do so since he had just had one 3 weeks ago.  If he had not done that, the blood clot would not have been detected. 

Mom is doing good.  She is tired from being up at the hospital all day.  We are sending all the results as we get them to UAB to see if that is where we need to transfer to if surgery needs to be done.   It has been hard on Amy to be in Dallas and away from home.  Amy might come if dad has to have surgery.  As badly as I want to see the three of them I hope that is not the circumstance for the trip home.

Madison has been a trooper these past few days.  I have had to leave her with friends which I think has been harder on me than it has on her.  She and I have stayed up until about 11:00 these past few nights getting caught up on our snuggles.  Last night she said "I love you" for the very first time to me.  She has repeated it when I asked her to but she did it without me even telling her to.  Talk about tears of joy!!!!  I have waited three and half years to hear her say that and it just melted my heart. 

~ 1 Peter 5:6-7
"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.  Casting all your care upon him for he careth for you."

I recorded this video last night as I was getting Madison ready for bed and putting her PJs on.  It was 10:15 at this point and Madison still had the giggles.  For some reason, she thinks it is HILARIOUS when you bump into something and say "ouch."  I hope this video puts a smile on your face!