Wonderful wonderful news!

Guess who's UP?? Yep! Dad.
Physical therapy is in progress and (drum roll please) he ate ALL his dinner - yeah right after we got him some ensure because he wasn't eating.

Saturday Dad update

Physical therapy is now approved after discussions via phone with the medical services. So that's good news as he really really needs to start moving as he's getting weaker and weaker laying here.

Breathing is still very labored but no crackling in the lungs so pneumonia is still not suspected.

He's a bit more slurred and really slowing down. Not sure if this is due to the whole fact of being down for five days now and being just slap wore out from any activity or not.

So physical therapy will be here today. Sometime.

Temps back down.

Temp is down and mom is staying the night...I left her with the packed lunch for dinner...and headed home. Bad daughter, bad daughter! To my defense there's only one bed....so I'll be back in tomorrow morning to see results of the tests from today.

This afternoons happenings.

MRI complete ultrasound MRI complete ultrasound complete. Now we wait for the answers as to if there are clots in the in the groin area. He's had some visitors. Now he's breathing hard. Not sure if it's the activity if MRI or the visitors or the combo that's doing him
In on his breathing. His sats are good but he's hot
now. 100.6 now what the crap?
Lungs clear on listening to them.
More wait and see.

Shifting and changing

Echo was rough apparently they were supposed to have us leave the room and they got started but they forgot and there we were.

I'm sure most can't stand to watch this stuff but even though it was rough I'm glad I was there. I watched his breathing and oxygen on the monitors so I know with all the gurgles and gagging all was really still well and results would be forthcoming soon enough. So we stayed and watched the torture continue until the bitter end.

When all was said and done were in for more tests. Now we're in a "Where's Waldo" hunt for the clots as its not in his heart. Next set if tests will be another MRI in his lower extremities and an ultrasound on his groin.

And the hunt continues.

Hearts and such.

Not a clear picture it was dark in here. Heart echo done. Found a small hole in the top part of his heart. This is the main suspect. The mini stokes appeared to be old and new so... Now they look at fixing that to avoid more strokes. The heart docs will confer and see what they will do. It could be mess it could be surgery. Hurry up and wait. More test more folks talking. And we wait...

Sense of humor

For those in our family you'll appreciate the morbid humor we have. While talking with dad about what he could remember about the episode I teased him that I couldn't even give him flack about "don't go into the light" and the fact they were shining a flashlight in his eyed during all this.
Fast forward to today when he asked mom for a dees-a-da, which for those non family members was moms childhood statement for wanting a drink of water. I joked with him not to tell the nurse that or he would be getting folks running in QUICK. So, yep, you guessed he he told the nurse he had asked for a dees-a-da earlier. Boy the nurse whipped her head to us on that one - ha! NOT nice of him but shows where we are right now.
On to the medical stuff for today. Last nights MRA showed a series of mini strokes in the back region. The original damage is in the frontal area so this is new and now throws suspicion on the heart and clots breaking off for there and going to the brain.
The order was put in for a trans-esophageal echo to look at his heart much closer. So we waited and waited then found out at about two thirty that they were going to do the test tomorrow morning at 8am. Sigh. The good news is that we will know right then what they see as they do it in the room. So first thing we get to see if the heart is the issue.

Still chipper

Proof dads doing "OK"


See good color and doing well. Still a people person and knows 99% of the nurses and doctors by name.

Stoke of bad luck.

I’ve always said I was going to use this blog as a journal of sorts and was going to put everything in here and print it annually – so for I have done this, but there has been no BAD.  There has been bummer news, bad things to the house, but nothing this personal, however, it is life and it’s mine, so here it is.

 

Wow, how to start this update…

 

From the beginning:

Monday: Dad went in for kidney stone surgery and came through that OK, or appeared to, anyway. 

Tuesday: 9am mom noted he wasn’t using his left arm for a lot of things and it was weak.  Well, he hadn’t started as surgery was Monday and he was pretty loopy Monday from what I hear – you see, until now, this was still considered “one night” as a precaution for bleeding stay.  By 2pm the hospital was confirming a stroke.  There was nothing they could do for him on any level as he had just come out of surgery and couldn’t get blood thinners or he would bleed out.  So… they waited.  He had lost use of his left leg (as in no wiggle, but sensation) and partial loss of his left arm.  It was weak, however he could lift it over his head, but it would “drift” down or to the side.

Wednesday: He was grabbing his cup a little better with his left hand and having more control over movement and they had him starting his rehab.  The rehab gals came in  and they had him up sitting and even had him standing with a walker for a few minutes.  He was teasing the nurses and was sitting fairly well, when he would list back, he would stare at the nurse and pull him self back to sitting and eye to eye with the nurse.  She teased him that she thought he was coming in with a pucker and he teased her back that he was…  When they sat him down he was farther down to the end of the bed, so they  were having him scoot to the head of the bed.  While he was scooting, he got two scoots in and close to the middle of the bed, then his left arm went slack and he fell over into the bed and had what appeared to be another stroke.  He was totally non-coherent at that point and couldn’t even respond, or open his eyes.  They were asking him how he was and he responded with a “Fafdlkajdf aadfaf Fafdalfd Hadfasdf safdaf fawerae wafead”… Mom looked at me and said “you know what he was saying don’t you?  Well, of course, typical dad answer – “Fine as Frog Hairs Split Four Ways”.  No one else would have gotten that one, but it was so typical Dad that even though I was rattled and tearing up, I knew he was still “in there”… I did wonder if he knew that this was all going on and if he was in there in his body totally freaking out… or if he even really knew what was going on…  They shined lights in his eyes and you could tell he was saying “bright light”… and he was trying to squeeze hands when asked, but he was using his right hand and he reaching over.  His motions were jerky and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open and slowly stopped responding.  We really thought we were loosing him.

 

The whisked him away to do a CT scan and other tests – and moved him to ICU.  We were moved down there to wait until they were done with him and when we walked in he was speaking again, slightly slurred, but speaking and coherent.  It was a shocking recovery from where he had just been.  He’s lost a little more movement in his left hand, if the sheet is on there, he couldn’t lift it, however he still has sensation in all limbs, just not movement.  He’s still able to wiggle fingers, however limited and can only lift his arm about 6 – 12” off the bed now instead of over his head.  So, setback, but not down and out yet.

 

He’s still in great spirits and teasing the nurses.  He did, however start a strange tick of blinking and opening his mouth.  We did bring this to the nurses attention and she was watching him and evaluating him.  Regretfully there still appears to be nothing that can be done at this point – we’re still in a wait and watch mode as they can’t thin his blood other than with an aspirin.  The good news?  Urine output is good, color is good and he’s in good spirits.

 

I’ll see if he’ll agree to a photo today to show everyone he’s OK…

 

More pantry storage ideas

My pantry is small. Too small until today I have had two white board calendars on the door. Those will need a new home now. The good news? I like the instant access idea. I like the room it gives me on the shelves.