Sunday Morning
Not surprisingly, the last several days have been busy ones for all of us, so we haven't been able to post any updates in a few days. Thursday was an uneventful day for Dad -- they moved his oxygen back down to 45%, but that was about it. I got to see him at the 4:30 visit, and he was awake but quiet most of the time, until he opened his eyes when Katie and I said goodbye.
We did get to speak to Dr. Cho on Thursday, and he was pleased by Dad's progress. We asked him about the jaundice, and he assured us again that they are not concerned. It is not uncommon for bile to fail to move when the body has more major issues to handle, and his liver is working fine, so his color will improve in time. We also asked about Dad's right ventricle, whether it was showing signs of recovery or not. Dr. Cho pointed to the IV medication machines and assured us that if there were going to be any serious problems with the right side of his heart, they could never have weaned him of most of the medications! So that was excellent news. I was able to head home to Virginia on Friday morning with much less concern than I'd had at the previous departure.
On Friday we were greeted with bad news -- Dad's pneumonia had become resistant to the Cipro antibiotic. A physician's assistant inaccurately told Mom that his pneumonia was worse, but in truth his X-ray merely failed to show improvement, and a culture showed that the Cipro had failed. So they switched him to a new antibiotic, but it was a worrisome day nonetheless. We all know logically that some days will be forwards, others not, but it's hard to keep your mind from jumping to the worst-case scenario at any setback. The news hit Mom especially hard; coming on Christmas Eve, it only added to the stress and anxiety of the day.
Christmas Day, Saturday, was a much better day. Dad was back to improving and was extremely responsive to his visitors. Apparently he has become increasingly resistant to the Fentanyl sedative, a common problem with all sedatives, I understand, but not so major a problem as antibiotic resistance. The family gave up on the idea of hiding Christmas from Dad -- the Christmas music playing on the radio all week was a pretty solid giveaway, and if that hadn't done it, the nurses greeting people with "Merry Christmas" for a couple of days probably would have. I haven't really heard how Dad took the news, though. Mom spent Christmas Eve at Sarah's and hung her stocking there, and they had fun on Christmas morning. Mom spent the early afternoon at the hospital while some of the others cooked dinner at her house, and then she came home to eat and celebrate between the late afternoon and evening visits. Mom was much more upbeat last night than she'd been on Friday, and she feels once again that Dad is on the mend.
This weekend we were told that they now think it unlikely that Dad will come off the respirator in the coming week -- they tried to wean him from the oxygen briefly, and apparently it did not go at all well. This was presented to us as bad news, and it's not good that he couldn't be weaned immediately, but that the staff thinks the end is even in sight came as a surprise to us, so that really wasn't bad news at all. They may install a tracheal tube (via a tracheostomy) on Monday, since the rule of thumb is not to keep them on oral tubes for more than three weeks (at Eric's hospital it's two weeks) lest the tubes cause damage to his air passages, and the trache would be more comfortable for him (potentially allowing him to eat or talk). But this is by no means a certainty -- we'll keep posting updates to let you know. Dad is still very, very weak, and the road ahead is no less long and difficult than it was a week ago, so he continues to need our prayers.
We did get to speak to Dr. Cho on Thursday, and he was pleased by Dad's progress. We asked him about the jaundice, and he assured us again that they are not concerned. It is not uncommon for bile to fail to move when the body has more major issues to handle, and his liver is working fine, so his color will improve in time. We also asked about Dad's right ventricle, whether it was showing signs of recovery or not. Dr. Cho pointed to the IV medication machines and assured us that if there were going to be any serious problems with the right side of his heart, they could never have weaned him of most of the medications! So that was excellent news. I was able to head home to Virginia on Friday morning with much less concern than I'd had at the previous departure.
On Friday we were greeted with bad news -- Dad's pneumonia had become resistant to the Cipro antibiotic. A physician's assistant inaccurately told Mom that his pneumonia was worse, but in truth his X-ray merely failed to show improvement, and a culture showed that the Cipro had failed. So they switched him to a new antibiotic, but it was a worrisome day nonetheless. We all know logically that some days will be forwards, others not, but it's hard to keep your mind from jumping to the worst-case scenario at any setback. The news hit Mom especially hard; coming on Christmas Eve, it only added to the stress and anxiety of the day.
Christmas Day, Saturday, was a much better day. Dad was back to improving and was extremely responsive to his visitors. Apparently he has become increasingly resistant to the Fentanyl sedative, a common problem with all sedatives, I understand, but not so major a problem as antibiotic resistance. The family gave up on the idea of hiding Christmas from Dad -- the Christmas music playing on the radio all week was a pretty solid giveaway, and if that hadn't done it, the nurses greeting people with "Merry Christmas" for a couple of days probably would have. I haven't really heard how Dad took the news, though. Mom spent Christmas Eve at Sarah's and hung her stocking there, and they had fun on Christmas morning. Mom spent the early afternoon at the hospital while some of the others cooked dinner at her house, and then she came home to eat and celebrate between the late afternoon and evening visits. Mom was much more upbeat last night than she'd been on Friday, and she feels once again that Dad is on the mend.
This weekend we were told that they now think it unlikely that Dad will come off the respirator in the coming week -- they tried to wean him from the oxygen briefly, and apparently it did not go at all well. This was presented to us as bad news, and it's not good that he couldn't be weaned immediately, but that the staff thinks the end is even in sight came as a surprise to us, so that really wasn't bad news at all. They may install a tracheal tube (via a tracheostomy) on Monday, since the rule of thumb is not to keep them on oral tubes for more than three weeks (at Eric's hospital it's two weeks) lest the tubes cause damage to his air passages, and the trache would be more comfortable for him (potentially allowing him to eat or talk). But this is by no means a certainty -- we'll keep posting updates to let you know. Dad is still very, very weak, and the road ahead is no less long and difficult than it was a week ago, so he continues to need our prayers.
posted by Emily @ 11:33 AM
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