Friday (written by my sister in law)

UPDATE as of 3/13/09 at 9:15pm.

The doctor decided today to take Bob off of sedation meds and pain meds entirely. He still is intubated (has a tube down his throat helping him breathe). He has been off of the meds since this morning and there are only brief moments where his eyes open and he appears to recognize us. We are not supposed to attempt to engage him too much because his blood pressure and heart rate increase and this is not good. He is supposed to remain as calm as possible in order to heal. Over the next several days the accumulation of meds should start to dissipate and he will become more and more out of this drugged state. The doctor has said he will probably remain in ICU through the rest of next week and the total recovery time in rehab, both in and outpatient, will probably last 3 to 6 months.As I mentioned in a comment, he has suffered 2 strokes. One at the brain stem and one at the cerebelum. (sp?) The cerebelum controls balance and such but is extremely "forgiveable". We have yet to see the effects of the brain stem stroke, but the doctor feels as though he will cognitively be the same old Bob he was prior to the surgery.

Tim is something like a vigilant soldier and just wants to stand over him in case he opens his eyes and let him know he is okay. Deanna, along with her brother, walked to Starbucks in the rain and is now feeling sickly. Both of them want to be in the hospital all the time but are feeling the effects of that. Tim, I think, plans to spend every waking moment here during his Spring Break next week and especially over the next few days as hopefully Bob slowly comes back to us.

It is a rough patch, but I think, ultimately, we're going to come out on top. Again, thanks for reading.

(Deanna) thank you SO MUCH for all the love and support. My Dad is one of the most loved people, and for good reason. He is the best man I know.