Day 5 Recovery - Back to ICU/Staying Positive

10:15 am Wednesday,June 17 2009: Lovely Lise called me to say that Tesfaye was being well attended to in ICU as they treat his pneumonia, and she explained to me what is going on. As we had discussed the previous day,since he was fairly awake she would like to arrange a time for me to come in with someone who can explain to him in Amharic what is going on so we can be sure he has no worries or unneccesary fears. I called up Sosina and,fortunately, she is able to meet us at 1:30 pm to explain things in Amharic. In the meantime I popped in late morning by myself just to say "hi" and see how he is doing, and although he is all tubed up again and somewhat weak, he sure looks better than he did yesterday afternoon.

1:30 pm June 17th: After catching up on some work, voice mails and emails that have been piling up like crazy and having a very quick bite to eat, I drove to VGH to meet with Lise and my wife Nanci and the translator I lined up, Sosina. When we got into the ICU and Nanci and Sosina were speaking with Tesfaye, I received an update from Lise and Dr. Boyd, one of the surgeons who operated on Tesfaye. They advised me of the steps they were taking to treat the infection and to get Tesfaye's lung functions up to speed, and explained why the particular complications, although predictable, arose. In any event, the plan is to get his breathing functioning satisfactorily within the next few days or else alternative solutions will have to be explored. Lise, with the assistance of Sosina, then explained to Tesfayer in Amharic language what he is now going through and the reasons for it - the ultimate goal being the restoration of his breathing without the need of breathing apparatus.

Tesfaye indicated his understanding throughout and his natural poise under adverse conditions shone through. After the explanations were over, Nanci and I had some time to talk and joke around with him, and his sense of humour and smile were evident notwithstanding the tube down his throat. He the playfully wanted a picture taken with the new "stuffed flower" toy that Nanci brought him posed atop his head. We then said our goodbyes and reassured him that we would be back later or tomorrow. In fact, I am off to see him in the next few minutes to say goodnight. (11 pm)

11:30 pm, June17: Tesfaye has been given a sleeping pill and appears to be sleeping comfortably. Jennifer is the nurse on duty with Tesfaye tonight, and each nurse I meet seems to be as nice as the next; Anita was the nurse for the afternoon shift, and apparently she was the one who selected the movie "Men in Black" for Tesfaye to watch this afternoon. I am sure he found it both unusual and amusing. Nurse Ashley from last night stopped by to see how Tesfaye is doing and say hello. I am told that my son-in-law Jim was in earlier and had Tesfaye communicating through pencil and paper. Anyway, although he felt a bit warm, Tesfaye's readings were steady and reasonably good, so we are hopeful that he will overcome the infection in short order. As Tesfaye was having a good sleep I did not wake him, so I had the opportunity to chat with Jennifer at length about Tesfaye, his treatment and his story. One thing about Tesfaye, with everything that he has been through in life he is a battler and of strong character and, in spite of everything he has been through in life, he is a very positive person. Both those traits will serve him well in overcoming this current setback.