Lancelot Acres

Overdue update on dad...

I'm sorry this is so late in coming, I just haven't had a chance to get on the computer.

The night dad was taken to the local hospital via ambulance, they found a blood clot on his lung and started him on Heparin (blood thinner) as well as multiple pain meds trying to control his pain.  They transferred him out as soon as they could.  They wanted a helicopter but there wasn't one available.  The closest was an hour away and they could transport him via ambulance in that amount of time.

They transferred him to the bigger hospital and upon arrival, the nurse and Dr on duty honestly didn't expect him to make it through the night.  They gave him extremely high amounts of Dilauded (sp) trying to control his pain and it didn't help at all.  My dad has been through A LOT...liver transplant, prostate cancer - removal, radiation, etc... and I have NEVER seen him in this much pain.  It was awful. 

The nurse on duty called the Dr to ask about higher doses of meds and the first thing the Dr said to her was, "he stopped breathing didn't he"?  At that point, my brothers and I decided we weren't leaving until he was settled and stable, or gone :(

Mom asked for Tordol sometime the next morning and then we were all sorry we hadn't asked for it sooner.  Less than 5 minutes after getting it, he was resting peacefully.  It was the first time he'd stopped fidgetting and crying out, the entire night.  We were so glad that he was comfortable and still with us.

Several tests were run and it was determined that he has blood clots in the lower part of both lungs.  His pain is the worst in his right rib cage area.  They are controlling his pain with tordol and morphine and his anxiety with xanax.  He is on two different antibiotics (cipro and ?) as they suspect he has pneumonia as well.  He isn't coughing, but they found fluid in his lungs when they ran the x-rays.  He is still on the Heparin (blood thinner) to keep new clots from forming.

They gave him two units of blood last night and that seems to have helped his stats become healthier, although he says he isn't feeling that much better yet.  His color is a little better, but he's still very pale.

They aren't sure why he needed blood.  Internal bleeding is a fear but they haven't found the source,  if that is the case.  They are just 'waiting to see' if it becomes obvious. 

He is still having occasional confusion, but also seems more 'with it' than he was the first night.  Today he asked Lilli if she got that turtle out of the container and let him go yet.  She said, 'what turtle?'.  I told him that we hadn't let it go yet but would today.  (There is no turtle, he must be thinking of something in the past).  Right after answering him, I said it was almost time for his meds and he said, "14 more minutes".  (this was the exact amount of time).

I think it's the meds doing it to him, but we aren't sure.  They did a CT scan (?) of his head and didin't find anything worrisome, so that was good news.

Hopefully he'll continue to improve and feel more like himself each day.  I'll try to post more often and udpate each time we get new information. 

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.  They are very much appreciated.  Dad is such a fighter, it's amazing all that he's been through and he still keeps pulling through these things.

Thank you again,

Lisa

Untitled Comment

{ 03:20, 2008-Aug-30 } { Posted by gabbie427 }

Wow! Your dad and your family have been through so much!! I will be praying!!

God's Blessings,
Amy Jo