Letter to "Boppa" from Stella (age 4)

HE'S HOME

Thanks to the Whitefish Ambulance crew for bringing Dave home safe and sound. That sure relieved my anxiety and Dave's too. He's pretty weak from the extended hospital stay so we have a wheelchair for him to use until he gets stronger. D.J. will also be staying here with us for a week or so to be the "muscles" and help with the physical stuff that I can't manage on my own. Dave's really happy to be home and ate a whole bowl of homemade chicken and noodles! Thanks to Carol Newbury for the dinner; it was nice not having to cook, and Dave really enjoyed it. It should be a nice weekend with Dave being home and me not running back and forth to the hospital. Even having time to mop the floor sounds exciting. Ripley and Nels will be much more settled too. Thanks also to Mitch who pitched in and hauled off all the branches and clippings from my "hedge and tree" trimming so the yard would look nice when Dave arrived. Thanks, also, to everyone who has helped make this last setback easier for our family. YOU ARE ALL WONDERFUL and WE APPRECIATE YOU MORE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE! God has blessed us with such great friends and family.

MAYBE TOMORROW

Just when we were planning on Dave being released from the hospital, he went back into atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rhythm). Today he did go back into normal rhythm so, hopefully, if he can maintain that rhythm, tomorrow he can come home. He's getting pretty tired of being in the hospital, but he is doing pretty good at keeping his spirits up. Much better than I could that's for sure. It's going to take awhile for him to gain strength back, but being at home and eating better will help a lot. The hospital food is really pretty good with a great selection, but he still prefers "home cooking". Good news is, he is offically "retired". He certainly deserves time to enjoy himself after putting his whole heart and soul into the Whitefish Fire Department. What a big step for him, but a positive one.

NOT HOME YET

We were hoping for Dave to come home today as his confusion caused by all the drugs has cleared, and he is eating again. Unfortunately, at around 4 a.m. he again went into atrial fibrillation (irregular heart rate) so they began IV drugs to get him back into normal rhythm. This has happened before (twice while in Seattle). It looks like he won't be coming home today after all. In order for him to be discharged, the rhythm will have to be controlled on oral meds. He's anxious to get home, and I'm anxious to get him here so I can ,again, try to fatten him up!