Slowly but surely

Dad walked 24 laps yesterday which is a full mile. He slept all night, exhausted from his walking. He still needs oxygen when he is asleep, but not when awake and not when walking.
This morning he got up, met his 15th nurse (Paul today) and once Paul found the walker went for a walk. Unfortunately during his third lap he suddenly felt very weak and when we returned to the room the monitor showed that he had gone back into atrial fibrillation. The team is going to wait and see if he will resolve the a. fib on his own like he did the other day. It makes him feel too weak to walk so no more walking for now, but maybe if he goes back to a normal heart rhythm he will be able to walk more later today.
On a happier note his stomach is starting up so today he is allowed to have chicken broth, small amounts, but I think it will make a big difference in his spirit. They said that the NG can come out, but we are opting to leave it in until he is really taking liquids without difficulty. It was so hard on him last time when the NG had to be put back in, we don't want him to go through that again.
If all goes well today, tomorrow the NG will be out and he will transition off his IV medications to PO which will allow him to walk without the IV pole which will make everything easier.
I feel like we are climbing that last hill out of Sabino Canyon and right now we are at the point where you can see the top of the hill, but there is still hill left to climb. In no time we will be strolling out of the canyon.