Monday, February 27, 2012

Update about my dad

Hello everyone. I'm just popping in here to give you an update as to my dad's condition/situation--in case any of you are curious.

The good news is that he's doing better. He's still in the hospital, and he's still battling a number of issues--headaches and lethargy are the main culprits, in addition to the left-side "paralysis" that was caused by the last of the three strokes he suffered just over a week ago--but he's shown a number of ever-so-slight signs of improvement over the last few days.

My mom, dad and David at the Fremont Troll.
The bad news is that this is going to be a long, tough battle--for him, especially, but also for my mom and my brother and I--and I have a feeling we're still at the very beginning of it at this point. We're hopeful, though, that the swelling of the brain that followed his strokes will start to diminish over the next week and, as a result, his headaches and lethargy will follow it out the door--and allow him to participate more fully in his recovery moving forward.

As you can probably imagine, I'm still a bit out of sorts--although I'm no longer alternating between bawling at the drop of a hat and feeling like a zombie. So, I think I'm going to try to return to some semblance of normalcy this week by getting back to work and by getting back to blogging, too.

I'd like to thank all of you for your kind words of encouragement and for the energy, thoughts and prayers you have aimed at my dad and my family. We appreciate it greatly.

22 comments:

Retr0gamer said...

Still wish your dad and your family all the best.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thank you, Retr0gamer. I really, really appreciate it.

Gerard said...

That's relatively good news, all things considered. I wish all the best of strength and courage to you and yours on the road you're about to embark on. Please, keep us updated too.

xx

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thank you, Jyr. That's really nice of you. And, yes, it is relatively good news. I'm quickly finding that for stroke survivors, a lot of baby steps are taken on the way to recovery. So, I'm thankful for every small step forward my dad makes. Thanks again for your kindness and for your positive thoughts.

GameOverYeah said...

Good to hear an update mate and glad that things are starting to look up, no matter how small.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thanks, dste. I'll do my best to keep people up to date.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the update, Bryan. This must be a very difficult time for you and your family. I'm keeping you all in my thoughts every day

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thank you so much, Anne. I appreciate it. It's definitely a challenging time for all of us, but most of all my dad. We're just doing our best to be there for him and be strong for him, support him, keep him on a positive track, etc. It's so hard to see him like this, but I'm hopeful he'll eventually recover enough to come home and live a normal enough life. Regardless, though, we'll be there for him and love him.

Viewtiful_Justin said...

I stuck you guys up on the prayer wall at church. You're in the regular prayers every day. It's nice to hear that you're doing better, and that the prognosis for your dad seems to be positive, at least in the long run.

Keep us posted!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thank you, Justin. I really appreciate it. We are doing better, by the way, and so is my dad. His progress is going to be slow for some time, I'm sure, but I'm hopeful he'll start recovering a lot faster once the bleeding in his brain stops (or once the blood is re-absorbed back into the brain) and once the brain swelling he's experienced goes down. Also, he's being moved to a rehab facility today, and he's sure to show better progress there, too. Along with that, positive energy, thoughts and prayers will help tremendously, too, I'm sure. Thanks again for that!

Sean said...

HI Bryan,

I`m glad to hear that your dad is improving, I hope he continues to get better and you and your whole family pull through this very difficult time. As with all your other readers, my thoughts and positive energy are on their way to him, you and your family. Take care!

Sean

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thank you, Sean--both for the comment and for the positive thoughts. The latter are especially appreciated. This is definitely going to be a difficult year, but my dad, mom, David and I are strong--we'll certainly take care of each other and do our best to get through this horrible situation. Here's hoping it won't always be as difficult as it has been for the last week or so...

RetroKingSimon said...

Hi Bryan, glad to hear the good news, I hope he continues to improve. Keep your spirits up and I'm sure it will rub off on him :) Best wishes and happy thoughts to you all :)

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thanks, Simon. We are doing our best to keep our spirits up. I agree with you about that being a big help to him, BTW. Anyway, thanks again for the positive thoughts :)

LottieTwintails said...

Wishing you and yours all the best, Bryan. I'm glad to see you back, and to hear some upbeat good news about your situation! Here's hoping things continue to improve for you and your family all around.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thanks, Kamiwoo. At this point, it seems to be two or three good days followed by one bad one (such as today). I really can't imagine a more depressing scenario than the one my dad is in, to tell you the truth. I really hope things improve for him in the coming weeks and months.

MimiPRGameFreak said...

Glad to hear that your dad is getting better. I'm still praying for him to get fully better and I wish your family the best. I know it's not easy to go through this situation, but I'm sure your dad will pull through. =)

- The Girl Gamer

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thank you, Girl Gamer. I especially appreciate this since yesterday was a bad day for my dad. We think he's really depressed at the moment, which of course could hamper his recovery. Hopefully the professionals will be able to help him in ways that my family and I have not. Anyway, thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.

diaglyph said...

Sorry to hear about your dad!
Hope he is doing much better.
Wishing all the best!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thanks, diaglyph. He hasn't improved much yet, but I'm hopeful will soon.

Darwin said...

Hey Bryan, I hope for the best. If we were in the same town, I would say, let's get some drinks. If you weren't in to drinks, I would say, lets play some co-op 3Ds.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thank you, Darwin. I'm hoping for the best, too. He really is improving slowly (very slowly) but surely, which is all we can ask for at this point.

As for meeting for drinks if we were in the same city: I would love that. As it is, maybe we should just each have a drink by ourselves (or with our S.O.) in our respective locales? :)