ICU again

    Dad had another setback Monday night, this one in the respiratory area. They put him on the BiPAP machine, including a breathing mask that almost completely covers his face. He hates this very much, and had to wear it for almost 24 hours. Also, the doctors decided that he still was retaining too many fluids, so he needed dialysis. This required moving him back from Intermediate to regular ICU. (Also, I had to sign the consent forms. Pretty adult stuff for my permanent adolescent self.)
    So while of course we're thrilled to see him under more intensive care, the more restrictive visiting conditions (6 am to 10 pm, only two of us at a time) are again frustrating. Also, they moved up the dialysis to "immediately," and the machine being so large in a room so small made it impossible for anyone to visit until it was done.
    Thus, we had 5 people wanting to visit during a window cut down to 7:30 pm to 10. But it turned out well. Margaret's daughter Linda was with us in the waiting area and told us about when her dad was in a similar condition. The doctors wanted them to give up on him but they refused and he pulled through. And Linda got an extra year and a half with her dad and got to know him for the first time. Which was just exactly what we needed to hear.
    When I got to see him again near 10, I was very happy that the BiPAP mask was off. Anne said that he had called it the most excruciating day of his life. That was all about the mask; the dialysis was no problem. So hopefully we can keep the mask off henceforward.