Late this afternoon my mom, my sister Johanna, and I met with Dr. Gary Dudek, the current Attending Physician of Highland’s ICU. Dr. Dudek discussed Dad’s illness and condition with us, answered many questions, and laid out the plan for Dad’s treatment. Dad was put on dialysis this afternoon to clean his blood and prepare for using the dialysis machine to remove excess fluid building up in his body. The doctor’s strategy is to start giving him daily dialysis treatments and slowly begin to regulate and remove excess fluids from his body after a couple of days of treatment. It is hoped that this will help increase his blood oxygenation and improve his blood pressure situation over the long haul. We feel encouraged that communication with the medical staff at Highland Hospital improved significantly today and are in agreement with Dad's current diagnosis and course of treatment.

I have some very sad news to report today. Tom’s wife Carol passed away this afternoon at around 1:15 PM. Carol’s sister Karen had spoken with us in the ICU waiting room this morning and said that Carol was in the final stages of death, and that they expected her to die sometime today. When we went to visit Dad this afternoon, we were filled with sadness about the loss of Carol. The finality of her passing really set in after seeing the hospital housekeeping staff cleaning and disinfecting ICU 6, the room Carol and Tom had spent the last 8 weeks of Carol's life in. The reality of the ICU can be so harsh.

God bless Carol, Tom, and their family.