December 31, 2009

Dad to have surgery again today. Dad's Team has decided that the Tracheostomy is the best option at this time. Having to constantly put the respirator down his throat and into his lungs is dangerous for a couple of reasons. One, no matter how sterile the condition in the hospital, there are Hospital Bugs that can attached to the hose and cause infection. Two, placing the tubes down Dad's throat causes damage and is painful. We don't know when the surgery will take place. Dad is on a wait list and we will only know an hour before it begins. Dad goes into surgery at 12 Noon. He is out of surgery at 1:49PM and Dr. Whyte feels that the surgery went well. Dad is taken back to ICU to recover from surgery. The ventilator is now inserted into the trach tube as opposed to directly into Dad's throat. He is resting now. Wish I was there with him, still sick!

December 29, 2009

Dad was moved to a private room today. At 11:49PM Sheri receives a call from Denise, the Nurse Manager of Dad's floor. Dad's lung has collapsed. She says that he has been having trouble breathing and that his lung collapsed. They are moving him back to ICU. Sheri calls to tell me and I call Mom, Mom calls Tammy and the passing of information begins again.

December 28, 2009

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Dad moved to 3rd floor today.
Still sicker than a dog! I need to see Dad! He continues to improve and is stable. I will take a boring uneventful day any time!

December 27, 2009

Dad is off blood pressure medications this morning. He is still on the ventilator , but they are hoping to move him out of ICU some time today. After the surgery yesterday, while driving home, I became deathly ill! I wonder if all of the stress of the past couple of weeks suddenly caught up with me, since I am sure my immune system is way down. I sure hope that I am not sick long as I know I can't visit Dad while I am sick. It is just too risky for him. Janet flew in from Indiana to be with Dad. She is at the hospital with Tammy and Mom. Mom calls me at 1:49PM to say that Dad is off the respirator and talking.! He says he feels completely different without the hole in his lung. I can only imagine how wonderful it must feel for him to breathe normally again. The plan now is to move him to a regular room today or tomorrow. It's been a good day after surgery!

December 26, 2009

Dad's surgery is today. I arrived very early so that I could spend some time with Dad before his surgery. He is nervous and wants to get it started as quickly as possible. I sit with him and watch him doze a bit, awaiting the transport to arrive. Dennis arrives to offer support for his brother and he and Mom meet with the surgeons prior to the surgery beginning. Dad's surgeon, Dr. Richard Whyte, explains to the that he plans to try and repair the fistula by patching it with fat from another area within Dad. If that isn't successful, the other course will be to redirect the esophagus to allow for the area to heal on it's own. Dr. Whyte further explains that he may decide to do a Tracheostomy as a temporary solution for Dad to receive use of the ventilator without inserting directly into the lungs. After this meeting, they are a bit overwhelmed with information and they explain to all of us what the doctor has told them. We are all there to wait together; Myself, Mom, Tammy, Sheri and Dennis. Dad goes in to surgery at 8:24am. The surgery is expected to take 3-6 hours. Dennis' wife Kathy arrives shortly thereafter and so does Sheri's boyfriend Hugh. We all sit, talk, read, pray and speculate on what the outcome will be.
About 2 hours into the surgery, Dr. Whyte comes out to tell us that Dad is doing wonderfully and that they are going to be able to patch the hole with some fat from the stomach. He is optimistic about the condition of Dad's stomach as he thought it would be in grave condition. It looks much better than expected. Also, he doesn't plan to do the redirecting of the esophagus or the trachestomy. All of this is awesome news and we are relieved and happy. Dr. Whyte tells us he is going back to complete the surgery, but that he should be done in about 1 1/2 hours. I am so happy, I do a little jig for the camera! We can't wait to see Dad and tell him the good news!

December 25, 2009

Christmas Day 2009! Dad remains in ICU and everyone has gone to their homes to spend Christmas. Mom spends Christmas at home with Tammy, Taylor, Leah, Sheri, Brittney, Megan and Karlie. They try to enjoy what should be a joyous holiday, but everyone knows that things aren't as they should be. Every one's thoughts are with Dad. Ed,myself, Eddie, Joey, Tommy and Kelsey plan to visit Dad today. We are closest to the hospital, so we are fortunate that we can visit today. The kids are excited to see "Papa" today. We arrive and he smiles as always and we spend an hour or so talking and discussing the upcoming surgery for tomorrow. Dad continually tells us to go home and enjoy Christmas Day, but that just isn't possible and we know that he is only saying this because he is concerned about us and concerned that our lives should continue unchanged. We begin to prepare to leave and the nurse comes in to say that they are going to move Dad to a regular room! We are told if we wait, we can stay and visit with him in there for a while as the visiting hours are longer and not broken up. ICU visiting hours are every 2 hours on the hour: (10am,12pm,2pm,4pm,6pm,8pm,10pm) visiting (10-10:30am and so on). Regular hours are 10-8 continuously. We wait for the transport team to prepare him for the move. With all the tubes and cords connected to him, it takes quite a while to prepare him, but we make a little train of all of us and follow as he is moved to his new room on the 3rd Floor. It took so long to get him moved that by the time he reaches his room, we are needing to leave. Guilt sets in and we prepare yet again for the sad good byes. We all know that we may not see him again and this is nearly impossible to handle, especially on Christmas Day. The kids all kiss and hug Papa and Ed says good bye as well. They leave, but I must see him one more time. He is scared and anxious about the surgery tomorrow. I promise him that we will be there in the morning waiting for him to come out and that he will be fine. We pray together softly and say good bye for now. I love my father so much and try to control the tears. I don't want him to worry and seeing us upset only causes him more pain.

December 24, 2009

The doctors have decided that Dad must undergo surgery immediately to repair the fistula between his lungs and stomach. The goal to have him put weight on and become stronger just can't happen as his health is steadily declining. He is schedule to undergo surgery with Dr. Whyte and his team on 12/26/09. We all must accept the sad fact that Dad will not be home for Christmas. He remains in the ICU. We promise to visit as much as possible and he is a trooper, even though I know that he wants so badly to be with all of us at home. This will be the first Christmas that I have not spent with Dad and it is hard to accept. Sheri, myself, Kelsey, Brittney, Megan and Karlie all visit him on Christmas Eve after attending church and remind him of just how much we love him. He smiles and tells us he loves us. We leave the hospital sad, but also encouraged by his continuous positive attitude.

December 23, 2009

Dad remains in ICU. The plan is the have him undergo a process that will clean out his lungs. It is extremely dangerous and we have been told that he may not make it through this. Our family prepares for the worse and we discuss with Dad his options. The doctors explain that if he doesn't have this done, his only other option is to be sent home with hospice where they would make him as comfortable as possible. Dad agrees loudly that he wants to undergo this procedure and that he "NEVER" wants to be unable to breath again. He explained that when he couldn't breath, he was so scared. We all said what we believed may be our final good byes and Dad tells us that he loves us. He says that he isn't afraid and that he has his faith. The only thing he is sad about is that he will miss his family. This was I believe the most difficult moment of my life thus far. Saying good bye to my father was extremely heart breaking and we were all so scared. He remained on the Ventilator until the surgery could begin. When we returned to the ICU after the surgery, the nurses and doctors were amazed! Dad did so well and everything went wonderfully. The first miracle of many had begun!

December 20, 2009

Dad had a good night last night. We are thankful for the small things right now...like a good night's sleep. Blood pressure is stable and medications are stabilized as well; all good signs! Dad is swelled up like a balloon from the fluids being pumped into him. His fingers are like sausages, but we are thankful for any improvement. The doctors aren't sure of the course of action for the day yet, as it is only 7am. Mom went home last night and plans to return tomorrow. She stays at our home in Fremont when she is out visiting Dad. I am thankful one of us lives relatively close to Stanford. Again, the small things mean more than they did a week ago. I talk with Dad's nurse at 9:40am and she explains that there are no changes. They hope to move him to a regular room some time today. Later, that night, Dad is moved to a regular room and he has a phone available to use. Life is good today...Phones, stability, fat fingers and close proximity...all things that once seemed unimportant. God is good!

December 19, 2009

Dad remains in ICU. There is talk of taking Dad off the ventilator/respirator today. That would be awesome! The doctors are trying him on a breathing apparatus to make sure he can breath on his own before they remove the ventilator. Mom is with Dad now. Later in the day, they remove Dad from the ventilator and have him sitting up in a chair. The next issue to address will be nutrition as he hasn't eaten anything since being admitted on 12/15 and the feeding tube is not yet hooked up to provide food. Dad's feeding tube goes directly into his intestines; bypassing the stomach due to the current situation with the leak/fistula.