Laura Arrives in Taipei

My flight arrived on Friday at 10 p.m. Since my flight arrived so late, my mom picked me up and we went back to the apartment to rest. The next morning we went straight to the hospital to visit dad. Jeff was already there, having arrived at 6 a.m. the day before.

I arrived prepared not to cry. My mom kept telling me that I'm not supposed to show my dad how upset I am. I had seen a picture of him in his hospital bed so I had an idea of what to prepare for. When I got there and saw how his mouth was covered in ointment to prevent it from bleeding, I nearly broke down. He also had what looks like little red dots everywhere on his hands, arms and feet that are similar to bruises, but some are scabbed because fluid broke through his skin from the swelling he's been experiencing.

He was awake for about 1 minute after I arrived. Just long enough for a big smile and then he dozed off. Apparently, he was exhausted from Jeff's visit the day before. We kept trying to wake him up to go out into the garden, but his eyes would just roll back and he'd fall asleep again.

Jeff went home because he had spent all of yesterday and last night with dad. My mom and I pretty much sat around most of the morning. I spent most of it rubbing his belly trying to help his digestion.

Dad's days are no longer dictated by the types of food he gets to eat anymore. It's all about whether or not he can go to the bathroom, both #1 and #2...but mostly #2.

He's had high levels of ammonia in his blood, which if he doesn't go to the bathroom, is bad. Going to the bathroom basically helps get rid of all the toxins in his body. When he's not able to do either, he spends the day sleeping. So, I was determined to help him pass whatever was in his system so that he could spend the day talking to me as well.

My parents hired a caregiver who helps out a lot - from talking to him, cleaning after him, picking him up. This morning she told us that my dad has been coughing every time he eats. Since he's so delicate with the bruising and bleeding, the doctors thought it would be best to feed him through a tube. They're worried that his choking on his food might cause fluid to go into his lungs, which would cause another problem that we'd all rather avoid.

Watching someone put a tube up my dad's nose to go down into the stomach was pretty hard. Especially since he wasn't really aware of what was going on. The nurses explained it to him, but I think he was half asleep, not quite grasping what was happening.

After the tube was in place, they fed him a nutritional drink, Prosure (sorta like Ensure). Then they ground up his medication and mixed it with water and fed that to him as well.

I'm not sure whether he can eat solid foods again. At least not until his condition improves.