Home Again, Upsetting News

December 30, 2025

On December 28 (Sunday), after my FIL was out of surgery, Bruce and his sister talked. They decided that only one needed to be there. Bruce felt we could go back and help out my FIL after my doctors’ appointments in January.

Bruce picked up his sister with his nephew and me along for the ride. With the drains not working, we couldn’t clean up, so went out to eat with Bruce treating.

We said our goodbyes since we planned to leave early.

On December 29 (Monday), we got up around 5 am due to Nox waking us up. Nox needed to go outside. Bruce and I agreed we wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. We put Nox in her car harness and attached it to the seatbelt. We quickly and quietly packed the car so we wouldn’t wake anyone up. We headed home.

We made several stops along the way to check text messages. The news about Bruce’s dad seemed positive.

The plumber arrived and my nephew let the plumber in. The plumber tried to clear the blockage. The plumber wasn’t able to clear it and needs to use a scope to see what he is dealing with. It is possible that the drainpipe is broken. Apparently, broken drain pipes are common for houses this old on Jekyll Island. The plumber is scheduled to come today and run a scope.

The doctor planned to see if my father-in-law could breathe on his own overnight. Since my father-in-law has a do-not-resuscitate order, the doctor wants to make sure my father-in-law is breathing on his own before taking him off ventilation. They check this by trying to let him breathe through a tube. With a do-not-resuscitate order, a patient can’t be reincubated.

Today (December 30), Bruce’s sister texted the news to my FIL’s children. My FIL was not able to breathe on his own. He is still incubated today. Even under sedation, he is fighting his restraints. Before putting him back under sedation, the doctor asked my FIL some questions. The doctor was very concerned by my FIL’s response to the questions. My FIL was very confused. Since his responses were not normal, the doctor ordered a CT scan. I don’t know when they will do the CT scan.

My father-in-law is more agitated when my sister-in-law in the room, so they kicked her out. He is now resting comfortably.

One of Bruce’s brothers is flying in tonight to provide support to my SIL. My nephew (her son) is flying home today. He needs to get back home for his college classes.

My brother-in-law can deal with the plumbing issue and take turns sitting at the hospital.

Bruce is very worried and to reassure himself, he assures me his dad is a tough old bird.