January 1
Happy New Year! My apologies for not posting any updates for the last couple of days (especially since they would now be first person accounts, as I've been able to get to the hospital each day). Dad continues to recover slowly but surely. Since getting the trache tube in, they have managed to wean him almost entirely from the ventilator--he's now getting just two breaths per minute from the ventilator and the rest he's doing on his own. They are also switching him from IV fentanyl to a patch (and with a much lower dosage) and are talking about getting him an oxygen collar so he wouldn't be so tied down by the ventilator. This all seems like great progress to me! He looked great when I got in to see him on Thursday--his color was much better and he was far more alert than he had been, and he even had a smile for me when I arrived.
On Thursday, one of the nurses said she thought she heard a murmur while listening to his heart. They got one of the PA's to take a listen and he couldn't hear anything (although he pointed out that he hadn't listened to Dad's heart before so he wouldn't be the best judge of any changes) and later Dr. Hiatt reported that she also couldn't hear any murmur. On Friday, another doctor (I think one of the pulmonary specialists?) said that what he was hearing was not a murmur, but a rub. Apparently this is quite common after heart surgery and is caused by some swelling in the tissues. Also on Thursday, Dad had some problems with nausea; after clearly mouthing "I don't feel so good" and indicating his stomach, he vomited a bit. That was the only incident he had, though, so it was most likely caused by all the medications in him and is not any indication of a stomach virus.
Friday was a rough day for him. They needed to replace all of his lines, so to do this they needed a good x-ray of the area. They took the x-ray and a bit later, the technician called to report that he had forgotten to put film in the machine first (oops). So he came to take another one, and THIS time he ended up doing a double exposure. By this point, Dad's nurse was fuming and encouraged Mom to request another technician for the third x-ray, which she did and this one went fine, fortunately. Someone in the area said to Mom, "I hope you weren't planning on having any more children!" Then after all the x-rays and getting his lines replaced (quite an ordeal, I imagine), they brought in a chair for Dad since they want to start getting him upright. It took five people (including Mom) to get him in the chair and I'm told that he wasn't at all happy to be there! But they kept him in it for a while, in spite of his silent protests. I think all this activity must have been pretty exhausting. By the time I arrived in the late afternoon, he was pretty tired and just slept most of the time I was there.
His pneumonia (which has a name now: klebsiella pneumonia) continues to be a problem. After being down for a while, his white cell count was a bit up on Friday. His chest x-rays aren't really clear. On Thursday, Dr. Hiatt and the PA both said they thought they looked a bit better, but the pulmonary specialist said they looked about the same ("what does he know?" was Dr. Hiatt's comment). Since this is the thing keeping him tied to the respirator and in ICU, we pray that it'll start to clear up soon. But I know from my own experience with Connor that this could take quite a long time, so the message is the same as it was three weeks ago--patience, patience, patience.
On Thursday, one of the nurses said she thought she heard a murmur while listening to his heart. They got one of the PA's to take a listen and he couldn't hear anything (although he pointed out that he hadn't listened to Dad's heart before so he wouldn't be the best judge of any changes) and later Dr. Hiatt reported that she also couldn't hear any murmur. On Friday, another doctor (I think one of the pulmonary specialists?) said that what he was hearing was not a murmur, but a rub. Apparently this is quite common after heart surgery and is caused by some swelling in the tissues. Also on Thursday, Dad had some problems with nausea; after clearly mouthing "I don't feel so good" and indicating his stomach, he vomited a bit. That was the only incident he had, though, so it was most likely caused by all the medications in him and is not any indication of a stomach virus.
Friday was a rough day for him. They needed to replace all of his lines, so to do this they needed a good x-ray of the area. They took the x-ray and a bit later, the technician called to report that he had forgotten to put film in the machine first (oops). So he came to take another one, and THIS time he ended up doing a double exposure. By this point, Dad's nurse was fuming and encouraged Mom to request another technician for the third x-ray, which she did and this one went fine, fortunately. Someone in the area said to Mom, "I hope you weren't planning on having any more children!" Then after all the x-rays and getting his lines replaced (quite an ordeal, I imagine), they brought in a chair for Dad since they want to start getting him upright. It took five people (including Mom) to get him in the chair and I'm told that he wasn't at all happy to be there! But they kept him in it for a while, in spite of his silent protests. I think all this activity must have been pretty exhausting. By the time I arrived in the late afternoon, he was pretty tired and just slept most of the time I was there.
His pneumonia (which has a name now: klebsiella pneumonia) continues to be a problem. After being down for a while, his white cell count was a bit up on Friday. His chest x-rays aren't really clear. On Thursday, Dr. Hiatt and the PA both said they thought they looked a bit better, but the pulmonary specialist said they looked about the same ("what does he know?" was Dr. Hiatt's comment). Since this is the thing keeping him tied to the respirator and in ICU, we pray that it'll start to clear up soon. But I know from my own experience with Connor that this could take quite a long time, so the message is the same as it was three weeks ago--patience, patience, patience.
posted by Sarah @ 11:46 AM
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