Daddy

I am writing this post not to point fingers at anyone, but mainly so there will be a written record of what transpired during the events of my daddy's most serious illness to date.

Last Tuesday, May 24th, I received a text message from my sister saying that daddy had fallen and they were taking him to the ER in Monroe, NC. I live 4 hours away. Later that day, I found out that daddy's left hip (artificial joint) was dislocated and his right ankle had been fractured. They would need to put daddy to sleep to put his hip back in and because he had eaten breakfast, they would need to wait until 4:00 p.m. that afternoon to do it. I asked Carol if I need to come to the hospital, and mama said no. Later that night daddy was doing good and resting, and they would keep him overnight to check on his cellulitis on his right leg. Wednesday, May 25th, daddy was doing good and the doctor said they wanted to send daddy to rehab before going home to try and regain some strength. He has been very unstable for the last eight years or so.

Thursday (May 26th) morning about 7:30 a.m. Becky called to say that daddy had been moved to ICU, only saying that he was having breathing problems and something about a blood infection and that I need to come to the hospital. As quickly as possible, we packed some clothes and got ready to go to Monroe. The doctor had called Becky Thursday morning and asked if they should put him on a respirator because daddy has a living will. She CORRECTLY told them yes, put him on the respirator at least until the family can get together and figure out what is going on with daddy. En route to Monroe, Becky called and said that daddy was a very sick man and that his prognosis was not good. Once we got to the hospital, I went into daddy's room. Carol and Amy were there, along with the nurse, and they said his temp had come down to 101! I said, how high was it? Amy said 106.8! I didn't know that was possible. I could not talk to my daddy. He looked so sick. All I could do was look at him and cry. My heart was breaking. Shortly thereafter, a doctor, not daddy's doctor took us into the "conference room" to tell us about daddy's condition. Basically, he had a blood infection of unknown sources, his kidneys were shutting down and his prognosis was not good. He has a hiatal hernia, and they tried for one hour to try to get a scope to his stomach to see if the problem was in his stomach, like Uncle Floyd's. They would be doing some more tests and she should have the results around 2:00 and we would talk again. I never saw a doctor again that day, but supposedly she stopped by daddy's room and told Becky and mama that his kidney's were improving, but that they were waiting on one additional test, and that she had to go to the ER to check on some patients! Are you kidding me? She said she would be back to check on daddy and additional blood tests by 5:00. We never saw another doctor that day. We took mama home that night and stayed with her. Becky and Ricky spent the night in the waiting room.

Friday (May 27th), Dr. Patel, called us into the waiting room about noon, armed with the female doctor and three other female hospital employees. He kept talking about how daddy was not responding the way he should (it had only been 24-30 hours) for 48 hours after ICU admission, and that people half of daddy's age do not recover from sepsis like daddy has, and that we should strongly consider "comfort care" without explaining what he was talking about. At this point, we were concerned with trying to figure out what has made daddy sick and what to do to try to make him better, but the doctor and hospital was ready to give up on him. Mama told the doctor she was not ready to give up and felt like daddy was fighting to get better. Dr. Patel was to try and get together with us on Saturday around noon. My daddy is strong and is a fighter. He loves life and he had a lot of people praying for him to get better. My baby Kate called and I told her that the hospital was ready to put my daddy in the ground! She said to tell mama, that we should not even be thinking about pulling life support until at least Monday or Tuesday. Most of the rest of the day is a haze, but it was full of prayer and good thoughts and a lot of family visitors. Jerry and I spent the night at the hospital this night so that Becky and Ricky could go home and get some sleep.

Sometime Friday afternoon/evening/night daddy started responding to the hospital staff and family. He started moving his hands and arms and making facial expressions. My daddy is getting better, and how sweet it was! Dr. Patel and ONE nurse met with us again in the "conference room" on Saturday (May 28th) around noon. He admitted that daddy was making progress and that continuing with anti-biotics and bp meds was appropriate. What a joke of a doctor. Jerry asked the doctor about how daddy's feet were jammed into the footboard of the bed and asked about nutrition. They gave daddy a new $80,000 bed that is bigger (longer) and moves him automotically and makes his more confortable. It took until Sunday afternoon to get the nutrition IV started. Oh how I wish my daddy were at another hospital. We stayed at the hospital until Saturday night. Erin went to Sonic and got some hot dogs and other goodies and later Jerry and I went to Hathaway's and got some chicken for supper. I also got a plate for Ricky - what a sweet soul he has. Daddy is looking better and better. Jerry and I took mama home and stayed with her and brought her back to the hospital on Sunday morning.

Sunday (May 29th) when we got to the hospital, Aunt Clara was here. She and Aunt DeLane were going to take mama out to eat for lunch. They enjoyed each other's company, I believe. Sunday afternoon, daddy opened his eyes a little and would watch us "some" as we talked to him. Thank you, God for your blessings. We are unworthy of the pain and suffering your Son went through for us, but we thank you and praise you for how you love and care for us. We were to leave Sunday afternoon to go back to Wilmington to take care of household stuff, but I told daddy that I WOULD be back on Tuesday to see him. When we left, Clara, DeLane and Becky were here. Erin arrived shortly after we left.

Sunday evening and Monday (May 30th) daddy did real good and got a lot of good rest. Nobody stayed overnight at the hospital Sunday or Monday night. Sometime Monday afternoon, the doctor said that the blood cultures revealed e-coli bacteria in daddy's blood! Not sure how he picked that up, but praise God he is getting better. The doctor was to try to take daddy off the vent Tuesday morning. Matthew and I got to the hospital around 12:30 p.m. Daddy is off of his anti-biotics and bp meds and his blood counts look great according to the "doctor". They were unable to get daddy off of the ventilator on Tuesday afternoon, because his breathing was not quite as good as they wanted it to be. Daddy was breathing on his own, the respirator was only working if daddy stopped breathing or his breathing slowed down. His eyes were open more and he was more alert. Mama, Becky and I went to eat supper at Quincy's and when we got back, daddy was off of the respirator and breathing on his own! Praise God! He had a lot of congestion, but he was working to cough it up. He is so strong and such a fighter! I decided to spend the night at the hospital Monday night, in case he had any problems.

Wednesday (June 1st) I woke up about 5:00 a.m. and called the nurses station. Daddy rested overnight and stayed off of the respirator. Around 9:45 a.m., the nurse came out and said daddy was trying to talk a little bit, but his throat is still quite sore.

Stay tuned ...