Wednesday May 6

Today they put a plug in dad's trachea tube and now he can talk. It's not the same as before I guess it will take a little while to get the vocal cords used to working.

They still have dad's hands restrained. I am not sure for how much longer. I do know that dad hates it.

Dad's memory is horrible right now. He doesn't remember the day before. I hope the Aricept soon kicks in and his memory starts working better. He doesn't remember pulling his trach tube out the other day.

Now he is just getting oxygen through that thing they place up your nose. This is a huge difference from the ventilator and trachea collar. Almost back to normal.

The nurses are suggesting that dad may soon (in the next few days) get moved down to TICU (transitional intensive care). This is great news. That is one step closer to a regular room and to rehab. Right now dad feels like he is never going to get out of the hospital. I keep telling him that if he listens and works with the nurses and therapist the sooner he will be able to get his strength back and the sooner he can get home.

Tomorrow will be week number seven (7) for dad being in ICU. That's a long time.

Keep those prayers going up for dad and me.

Kathy

Tuesday May 5

The nurses are noticing that dad doesn't remember what happened the day before. So the doctor is putting dad on Aricept. Actually dad was taking it before he went into the hospital. You don't have to have Alzheimer's disease to benefit from this drug. We should be able to tell in a couple of days if it is helping dad.

Today the doctor decided to switch out dad's trachea tube with a permanent one -- however it isn't really permanent it can be taken out if and when the person doesn't need it anymore. The new one is called a metal Jackson Crack Trachea. I couldn't find anything on the web that explains the difference between that one and the one dad did have other than it is metal and the old one was plastic.

After replacing the tube they don't want to dad to try to talk any tonight. But tomorrow they will put a "plug" in it that will enable dad to start to talk again. With the old trachea you had to put your finger over the opening so he could talk -- not such a good thing because you cut off the oxygen when you do this. With the new Jackson trachea they can put a plug in it so that daddy can talk and somehow oxygen still gets in. Not as much oxygen but that's ok. You don't need the amounts of oxygen the hospital gives you when you are sick.

Nurse S said that things will start to move a little faster for daddy now. However she did make sure I understood he still had a long way to go.

The main thing right now is for dad to cooperate with the nurses, doctors and therapist. He is stubborn and really hardheaded. Hopefully he will realize that everyone wants what is best for him and that he will try to do what they want and to behave himself.

Keep those prayers going up for dad and me.

Kathy

Monday May 4

I cannot even tell you how much progress dad has made in the past couple of days. Except for one little problem today. Which dad caused himself. For whatever reason he pulled out his trachea tube. Yeah, the part that goes into his neck so he can breathe. It isn't stitched in and is usually held in by an inflated balloon but the nurse had just deflated the balloon because of what was to come a little later in the day. If the balloon had be inflated dad would have caused a major problem by pulling it out, but lucky for him it wasn't inflated. yay.

Today was a big day for dad. I had no idea this was going to be happening today.

Today dad got a visit from a speech therapist, physical therapist, and an occupational therapist. Whew, that's a lot of people and things to do.

The speech therapy will help dad learn how to talk with the trachea tube still in.

An occupational therapist helps you to relearn how to do things with your smaller muscles -- like brushing your teeth or writing --how to take care of yourself basically.

The physical therapy works with your larger muscles -- arm, legs, etc.... -- so this will help dad with regaining his strength and getting back on his feet.

Because dad pulled out his trachea tube this morning the speech therapist wasn't able to do his/her job in helping dad to talk. The nurses/doctor thought it best to let the area rest and make sure there was no real trauma from dad pulling the tube out. (And because he did this they put his hands in restraints again.) Hopefully all is well and tomorrow they will be able to put the add on to dad's trachea tube and start teaching him to talk with it. (I was told what this is called but it was the technical term and I have no idea what they said)

Dad is doing good. He is getting stubborn and wants what he wants when he wants it. So that has to mean he is getting better right?

Don't get me wrong, dad still has a LONG way to go. He will be in ICU for a while longer and I am sure dad will hate every minute of it. Dad has no idea how far he has come. He doesn't remember coming to the hospital, at least not yet. But that's ok. If he will just loosen up and not be so darn stubborn he may get better faster.

Keep those prayers going up for dad and me.

Kathy

Wednesday April 29

When I called to check on dad early this morning the nurse said he had had a good calm night but early this morning he got across that he wanted to go home and he started messing with the bandages on his stomach. They had to give him a little sedation and restrain his hands once more. He had the restraints off for 2 or 3 days.

The nurse didn't say I could not come see dad today but suggested maybe I needed to take a day off to rest. I think what she was really saying is that they finally got dad calmed down and maybe seeing me would get him all riled up again. That's ok, I totally understand.

I called to check up on dad several times today. The last time Nurse A said that dad had been calm and then agitated. Finally she had to give him a mixture of Versed and Fentanyl. (I am not sure when they stopped the Fentanyl drip so I was a little surprised when she mentioned this.) Nurse A couldn't tell if dad was just agitated or in pain so that is why she gave him some sedation and pain medicine.

I totally forgot to ask if they had dad off the vent and on oxygen today. I'll try to remember to ask when I call and check up on dad tonight.

Since dad was making it clear that he wanted to go home I would say that he is getting better. I am hoping that once they are able to take the trachea out and he can talk it will be easier to calm him down. And who doesn't blame him for wanting to come home?

Keep those prayers going up for dad and me.

Kathy

Thursday April 2

This is going to be fast and to the point. No extras, I need to get to the hospital.

Last night I got a call, dad needed emergency surgery. His bowels were coming out of the incision.

Dr B operated put everything back where it belonged. He also went ahead and put the trachea in.

Dad's open wound is now bigger than before. Don't know how much bigger as I haven't seen it yet.

I called the hospital around 4AM this morning, nurse said they were having problems with dad's blood pressure but think they finally have it under control. It was high and then it got pretty low.

I called again around 6AM and the nurse said they had to put hand restraints on dad. He was trying to pull the trachea tube out. So I am guessing he is waking up a bit.

Gotta feed his cats, pick up a biscuit for me and get to the hospital. More updates later.

Keeping praying for daddy and me.

Kathy