Dad is back in the hospital.

Dad is back in the hospital.

Dad had been falling some but I have been able to "break" his fall. But Wednesday dad took a fall in front of a store while I was parking the car. He didn't seem hurt, it was a few hours before he felt any pain. Thursday morning I called his doctor and got him in for an X-Ray just in case something was broken because he was in a lot of pain.

So, when they were taking the chest X-Ray (at the doctor's office) dad evidently passed out and fell, and hit the floor hard. A huge knot came up on dad's head and his side/chest area was killing him (same side he had fallen on the day before). The doctor's office called 911 and dad was off to the ER.

In the ER they ran all kinds of tests and even took chest X_rays twice. Nothing is broken. And they were going to let dad come home, but then his blood pressure starting doing crazy stuff. When his blood pressure was taken while laying down it was really high, then when he set up and they took it it fell like 80 points. No wonder he had dizzy spells. There is a word for it but I can't remember. Anyways they admitted dad.

Today dad has still been in a lot of pain, and they have gotten his blood pressure down. HOWEVER dad started talking crazy and was freaking me out. The doctor thinks it is coming from all the morphine they have dad on so they are changing from morphine to vicodin. It is also a narcotic that can cause delirium but since it isn't as strong the hope is that it won't mess up dad's thinking as bad.

They still have to work on dad's blood pressure. They need to take it with him laying, sitting, then standing. Right now they can't take it standing because he is too weak to stand. Also the medicine that got his blood pressure down goes against his kidneys (which is why the kidney doctor took him off it). So it may come down to the lesser of two evils.

Prays for daddy and me are greatly appreciated. 

Momday April 27

When I went to see dad today the first thing I noticed was they had taken off his hand restraints! And then I noticed how the swelling had gone down in his hands! Majorly down! His patient arm band had been really snug and today I could put my hand through it, I could probably slipped it off dad's hand if I had tried.

Dad was on CPAP for 9 hours today. This is really great.

The nurses cut back on the "feeding" and the feeding tube has quit leaking. Yay!

I didn't stay too long today because while I was there dad starting getting really agitated, his blood pressure was already up but then heart rate went up to the 130's even hit 140 so I called the nurse and she had to give him some Versed to get him calm. As he started calming down I decided maybe it would be best if I left. I don't know if I was the cause of the agitation, the nurse said it wasn't me that some patients just get excited when family comes to visit. I don't know. I'll go back tomorrow and see how he does.

Keep those prayers going up for dad and me.

Kathy

Saturday April 25

Today dad has been on CPAP for the biggest part of the day. Nurse J said the doctor left orders to leave dad on it for as long as he could take it. This is good, but last time he was on it for over 24 hours he had trouble with his blood pressure and agitation, they also couldn't put him back on CPAP for long the next day.

I spoke to Dr H (the ICU doctor) and he said that they were still working to find the right medicine and the right dosage to help keep dad calm without sedating him. He also left orders not to sedate dad unless necessary and only give him a small amount. Dr H wants them to use as little Versed as possible. He said he wants dad to be easily awaken so that means less Versed.

Dad also obeyed commands for Dr H today.

Dad was really upset this morning so I waited until about 2 PM before I went to visit, and dad slept through the entire visit.

Keep those prayers going up for dad, me and Aunt Betty.

Kathy

Friday April 24

Yesterday they put dad on CPAP because he just wasn't breathing with the ventilator (sounds weird but that is close to what they told me). They left him on the CPAP from like 8 AM yesterday until 11 AM today. Dad's blood pressure started going way up so they switched him back to the ventilator and his blood pressure went down some. He has slept a lot today, I think being on the CPAP for so long -- while good for him -- just wore him out.

Today dad is following commands better Nurse D said. He still gets really agitated at times so they have had to give him some Versed, and Nurse D doesn't think the Precedex is doing dad much good. I just don't know. I know they can give him some Ativan and I tried to tell the nurse that it might help his blood pressure come down some. Nurse D said she didn't think the blood pressure was up because of agitation so she was giving him everything else in the world.

The thing is that the nurses rotate within ICU and some within ICU3 (where dad is) so he never has the same nurse more than 4 days in a row then he may get that nurse again in another week or not. Each nurse treats dad different, one notices something might be working and another nurse sees it differently. I really wish dad could have the same nurse/s more consistantly. I think his care would have better continuity if they did.

Still those teeny tiney baby steps. A step forward and 2 steps back. But overall dad is doing lots better than he was say just a week ago. But he still has a long way to go.

Keep those prayers going up for dad and me, and Aunt Betty.

Kathy

Saturday April 11

Went to see dad today and managed to talk to one of his doctors (yeah, he has like 3 I think). Dad is doing better. They have stopped the sedation however what he gets for pain does have some sedating effect.

Dad is awake but not totally there yet. Sometimes he will follow commands and other times he won't. Dr F said this is normal. That it will take awhile for all that sedation to work out of his system.

In the meantime if you touch dad or talk to him it startles him and his blood pressure shoots WAY up. It comes back down but still......

They are slowing trying to ween dad off the ventilator. They switch it to something called CPAP for several hours twice a day. Today they are starting to cut even the CPAP off and hook oxygen up to his trachea for an hour to see how it goes.

Dr F says it will be a long process to get dad off the vent and all (or most) of his medicines, and to work on his nutrition and get his strength back. Oh and it could take a while for his mental state to get back to normal.

I was also told that it could take weeks maybe months before dad will come back home. He will more than likely have to go to a rehab place after the hospital and before coming home.

I am not going to see him tomorrow. He had such a big and tiring day today and I think he needs the rest. The nurse agrees that he seemed really tired today and when anyone talks to him or touches him his blood pressure goes up -- it will soon start to come down -- and that tomorrow they will probably try all the tests they did today the switching from the ventilator to CPAP for a few hours and then later cut all that off and try just oxygen for a little while. Today he did just oxygen for about an hour and the nurse said it was very tiring for him.

Keep those prayers going up for dad and me. Don't forget to pray for Aunt Betty who is also in the hospital.

Kathy