Oct 23, 2014
Your prayers worked! Thanks!
Late yesterday a bedside chest x- ray was done as were 3 sets of blood work, 2 within 90 minutes. He had a fever of 103F and extremely low blood pressure. An IV was started and antibiotics administered. It wasn’t confirmed until this morning ( Wed. AM ) that he had pneumonia but I suspected ). He remained confused and just slept. The fever broke at 12:40AM, I know as I was called. My youngest sister stayed the night with him and I arrived at 6:00AM to take over. Having just done a 9 hour day, then a 12 hour day and another 9 hour day I just knew I could not spend the night and she wanted to. I keep joking with the unit clerk that I was going to put in for overtime. I have no idea where I got the energy to do as much as I did way back in my nursing days.
He was much more lucid early this morning and by noon he seemed more like himself. Seems that the gravol they gave him one hour prior to eating made him loopy and very very sleepy. That combined with the pneumonia really threw Dad for a loop. I knew that he was not doing well and in fact had almost stopped eating by last Thursday. That is why he was getting the gravol so he would not be nauseated and would eat. I could hear him drowning in the fluid of his lungs. In addition to the draining last Thursday they did it again this past Monday morning. I have been privileged to have been accepted by both Dad’s doctor and the nursing staff and have been included in all decision making. The doctor feels certain he can get Dad up to par again. I am not so certain as Dad has lost a lot of weight and seems to be a shadow of himself. But I have to say that by afternoon even though he was extremely weak and frail he was joking with the nurses. My sister who did the supper shift said he was confused when he awoke from his afternoon nap. Hopefully tomorrow morning I will find Dad more energized. The staff have been so great to him and to me.
A few weeks ago I asked for some input on how to get Dad TV in his new room. They are moving the entire ward to a renovated area but there is no wiring for television which is about all that Dad can do beside read the newspaper. By the way the move has been delayed a week as they can’t get the call bells functioning so he won’t be moving until Nov. 3rd. Anyway, Croft came up with the simplest solution. Thanks to the others for their input. I went to Future Shop and bought a brand new digital 32″ Panasonic TV and what they call a flat box antenna. You just have to plug the TV in, plug the antenna thingy into the TV and place it near the window. It is supposed to pick up TV stations from pinging satellites or something like that. The only thing is that you have no idea how many or which stations you will get until you try it. Best part of all is that if Dad doesn’t like what he gets I can just take it all back to Future Shop within 30 days for a full refund. Only problem is, is that the entire system has to be ‘approved’ by hospital maintenance first. Fortunately they are supposed to pick up the system from me this week. So we shall see. It is certainly an easy solution and the antenna is only $49.00 so the cost of the TV is the big expense.
I’ve been up for 16 hours so I have to say adios and go to bed. Tomorrow will be another long day and thanks to you all it will be a better day. Your thoughts, prayers and support mean so much.
For those that mentioned just telling Dad that he could go, we did and will do it again when the time comes. He has no recollection of yesterday at all. He has fought death and won so many times in the past that he is certain to do it again. He has so much support. One of the cardiac care nurses came at 1AM and again at 7:30AM to check on Dad during his crisis. He came to care for Dad very much in the short time he cared for Dad. That is just the type of person my Dad is, everyone loves him.
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Take good care of yourself – I worry about you…
Yep, you need Contessa and Colin time. Glad things are working out. Be happy, pour a glass of wine and look out the window. Big hugs.