After the Thursday team meeting, we're more convinced than ever that Dad's in the right place to improve. Just counting resp techs, physical and occupational therapists, there were at least ten people in the room with Mom. Ten people whose primary goal is to make my father progress as much as humanly possible. Amazing.
The EEG Dad received Tuesday has showed brain activity...not a lot, but some. Again, I'll take it. It means he's in there. Mom walked into Dad's room yesterday to see him open his right eye. She called me and put the phone to his ear, and he blinked in response to my voice.
Dad's doing well this week. Breathing's stable, temp's stable. We're thrilled and amazed by his progress. All we need is the go-ahead to bring in more visitors so we can get all of you to swing by and talk to him. Keep on praying, chanting, hoping. I know I am.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Still Waiting
Monday was not the day of revelations we anticipated.
Not a bad day at all; the doctors simply didn't meet in the collective powwow we had thought would happen. Dad's main Md, Dr. Mumtaz, has ordered a neurologist consult, and it's a bit counterintuitive to have physical and occupational therapists flinging him around before the head squad's had their say.
The delay was actually great for Mom and I- we've been doing legal housekeeping. My folks have always had separate checking accounts and split the home's expenses. But these pesky things called bills have shown up in Dad's name, and they are due, um...now. So we're working to make it possible for Mom to handle those, and putting my name on a few documents as backup.
We also got a chance to meet with Brenda, our case worker at SSH. We set goals for his stay (1. get him off ventilation, 2. WAKE him) and discussed long term options. She's incredibly nice, and went out of her way to get me a list of facilities so I can start doing research for a possible transfer later.
Earlier today Dad got his first EEG (and it's about flipping time- I've been asking about them for 2 weeks- I'm a musician and I know you can't get a good read on brain function from a CT). We'll know official results tomorrow, but the second hand hearsay we got (the neurotech mumbled to fabulous Nurse David who talked to us) is ok, but not devastating. Again, though, we won't know much until tomorrow.
We tried to tackle Dr. Mumtaz in the hall today before my flight, but missed. I've got his number and he has mine, so we'll do a phone date tomorrow to touch base. There are weekly team meetings with all therapists, MDs and case workers which we're allowed to attend, so I'm sending Mom to Dad's first one Thursday.
As far as his vitals, Dad's staying strong. He breathes on his own with a tiny 30% oxygen burst on inhales. He's still got a bit of a temperature, but he's fighting an infection somewhere (we haven't totally found the cause yet). Yawns a lot, moves when something hurts, typical good day stuff.
I flew back to Chicago today with no meltdown upon departure. Now that Dad's in a facility that can really cater to his needs, I feel confident leaving him in their care. Mom's getting into the groove of the commute, and as luck would have it, a good friend of mine from high school and college works in Little Rock healthcare and has graciously offered to help Mom with travel (Thanks, Mo!). I've finally begun to learn some of the nurse and tech names over here, and I've apparently been dubbed "girl with pretty hair." Heck, I'll take it.
Not a bad day at all; the doctors simply didn't meet in the collective powwow we had thought would happen. Dad's main Md, Dr. Mumtaz, has ordered a neurologist consult, and it's a bit counterintuitive to have physical and occupational therapists flinging him around before the head squad's had their say.
The delay was actually great for Mom and I- we've been doing legal housekeeping. My folks have always had separate checking accounts and split the home's expenses. But these pesky things called bills have shown up in Dad's name, and they are due, um...now. So we're working to make it possible for Mom to handle those, and putting my name on a few documents as backup.
We also got a chance to meet with Brenda, our case worker at SSH. We set goals for his stay (1. get him off ventilation, 2. WAKE him) and discussed long term options. She's incredibly nice, and went out of her way to get me a list of facilities so I can start doing research for a possible transfer later.
Earlier today Dad got his first EEG (and it's about flipping time- I've been asking about them for 2 weeks- I'm a musician and I know you can't get a good read on brain function from a CT). We'll know official results tomorrow, but the second hand hearsay we got (the neurotech mumbled to fabulous Nurse David who talked to us) is ok, but not devastating. Again, though, we won't know much until tomorrow.
We tried to tackle Dr. Mumtaz in the hall today before my flight, but missed. I've got his number and he has mine, so we'll do a phone date tomorrow to touch base. There are weekly team meetings with all therapists, MDs and case workers which we're allowed to attend, so I'm sending Mom to Dad's first one Thursday.
As far as his vitals, Dad's staying strong. He breathes on his own with a tiny 30% oxygen burst on inhales. He's still got a bit of a temperature, but he's fighting an infection somewhere (we haven't totally found the cause yet). Yawns a lot, moves when something hurts, typical good day stuff.
I flew back to Chicago today with no meltdown upon departure. Now that Dad's in a facility that can really cater to his needs, I feel confident leaving him in their care. Mom's getting into the groove of the commute, and as luck would have it, a good friend of mine from high school and college works in Little Rock healthcare and has graciously offered to help Mom with travel (Thanks, Mo!). I've finally begun to learn some of the nurse and tech names over here, and I've apparently been dubbed "girl with pretty hair." Heck, I'll take it.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday surprises
2 big things:
While cleaning off Dad's face with a cool washcloth, he let me know he didn't like it by SHAKING HIS HEAD! I was wiping his mouth and he shook his head back and forth as if to say "no." Only twice, but it was definite. I jumped back- it scared the living haysus out of me. I looked up and Mom's jaw was dropped in shock. I tried to get him to do it a second time, but no dice. Not a problem- I got one, and that's enough.
Also, his nurse Mendy (who we LERVE- she's amazing), told us that he opened his eyes and looked around as she was cleaning and turning him earlier this morning. She talked to him, but he closed his eyes again afterward. Again, that's a head shake and two open eyes! We're in business!
He's still got a fever, so Mendy is running an arsenal of labs to find the cause. A boatload of new blood cultures plus urine tests. If nothing comes out positive for infection, we'll know for sure that the fever's neurological. He'll get his first once-over from SSH's doctors tomorrow, and Mom's given consent for them to do whatever procedures they deem necessary. The next phase of the journey begins tomorrow morning.
While cleaning off Dad's face with a cool washcloth, he let me know he didn't like it by SHAKING HIS HEAD! I was wiping his mouth and he shook his head back and forth as if to say "no." Only twice, but it was definite. I jumped back- it scared the living haysus out of me. I looked up and Mom's jaw was dropped in shock. I tried to get him to do it a second time, but no dice. Not a problem- I got one, and that's enough.
Also, his nurse Mendy (who we LERVE- she's amazing), told us that he opened his eyes and looked around as she was cleaning and turning him earlier this morning. She talked to him, but he closed his eyes again afterward. Again, that's a head shake and two open eyes! We're in business!
He's still got a fever, so Mendy is running an arsenal of labs to find the cause. A boatload of new blood cultures plus urine tests. If nothing comes out positive for infection, we'll know for sure that the fever's neurological. He'll get his first once-over from SSH's doctors tomorrow, and Mom's given consent for them to do whatever procedures they deem necessary. The next phase of the journey begins tomorrow morning.
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