Update

I haven't posted anything about my dad lately, mainly because there hasn't been anything to post. Since his surgery in January, when Chryste and Terra were here, he's been mostly unresponsive. Occasional hand squeezes and reaction to pain was about it. Last week, the doctor, suspecting that the shunt (thingamabob in his head to drain fluid) wasn't actually doing the draining that it was supposed to do, put in a lumbar drain (more of an external, temporary gadget than the shunt, but for the same purpose) to test. After only two days with that, he woke up. When I got to the hospital on Sunday, he saw me, recognized me and reached for me when I walked in.

This pretty much confirmed that the shunt wasn't working. Since the lumbar drain can't be used long term, the only option was to go in and fix the shunt. Great. More head surgery.

But wait! The x-rays showed that the problem was not actually with the head, but with the tube in the abdomen. It was tangled up and blocked, preventing anything from draining. So they didn't actually have to go back into his head, just his abdomen. They unblocked the tube and the shunt started to work.

So, he was barely out of surgery yesterday when I talked to Linda, but they think he should be showing improvement within a couple of days.

It's kinda nice to actually feel like there's hope again.