The good news is that Dad reported one or two little encouraging steps of progress today: he can hold a cup to drink by himself, and drank a glass of banana milk this afternoon; he can move his arms a little more, and move his head to adjust his position on the pillow.
The bad news is that he had another bleed during the night. Though not as heavy or as long as the previous one, it is still a cause for concern. They have stopped the anti-coagulant drug he was taking (he was on heparin during the two weeks he was hooked up to the the dialysis machine, and since then has been on a milder anti-coagulant that is given to long term hospital patients in order to prevent blood clots in their legs) and in its place they are giving him a mild dose of a coagulant drug instead.
Interestingly, when a couple of friends heard that he'd been bleeding again, they asked themselves whether it might be due to a blood-thinning drug that he's been on over the past weeks. Anti-coagulants slow down blood clotting time and can cause more bleeding than normal from cuts or lesions. Only time will tell if this is part of the reason for Dad's bleeding. Obviously, the presence of ongoing bleeding would also suggest that its source is somewhere within the bowel.
Dad was tired this evening, after having had another disturbed night last night, and we pray that he'll be able to get a good night's sleep tonight. All the drama is extremely wearying for him, as you can imagine.
It's quite stressful for the other family members too, as we never know what news awaits us when we enter the hospital doors and make our way upstairs to the intensive care unit. Please would you pray for my Mum too; this is a really difficult time for her.
