Don't forget to laugh...

The last two days have been like a bad roller coaster ride.

Dad has shown amazing strength and you all know how much of an athlete he is, but even this superman has been put through the ringer. His blood is still infected which means it's giving him difficulties elsewhere such as increased tiredness. It also means that his blood is not working properly so several measures must be put in place - like giving him blood components like platelets and albumin - to give Dad some comfort and to give his body a chance to absorb the antibiotic and hopefully fight off infection. He is fighting more and more small battles as his immune system is so stressed and we are seeing some issues such as fluid retention.

He did have some fluid from his lungs drained over the past two days and that has seemed to improve his breathing. He was zonked out big time on Wednesday as a result.

As dire and dark as the picture is drawn we were graced with a window of light last evening: Since Dad was so tired from the minor procedure for the draining, he did rest well for most of the day. He woke up while Julie had the Dad-Watch and while Sandra and Grandma took Suley, Aunty Joan, and Mum out for some food. He was rested, and as a result was feeling quite good. We got him through some of his liquid diet and then he got quite chatty. The infection, and perhaps some of the morphine is now affecting his cognizance and his mind is working on another level now. He’s not always quite with it, but believe me, he sure knows all his dirty jokes still! We read a few more emails and he laughed and rolled his eyes at all the fun comments, goofy jokes and happy memories.

Sandra, Suley, and mum got back while he was in the middle of this happy period. He was singing a little of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions” and was also reciting a bit of one of the magical effects called “Stan, Kate & Edith”. He had us in stitches.

It was something we’ll all cherish. It was good to catch that magical moment of Tony’s infectious sparkle.

The evening ended, however, with Dad experiencing a really bad tummy ache. He’s also contracted a bowel infection, which causes moments of terrible discomfort now and then. Mum comforted him until he settled down – all the while he kept insisting that “those damn kids” were setting off stink bombs again. You can’t help but giggle.

So yes, it’s still awful to see Dad struggle with all these problems and yet he reminded us all that the best medicine, indeed, is to laugh a little. When thinking of Tony, don’t forget to take a healthy dose yourselves!