A long overdue update...

Well, everyone....I have been majorly slacking off and I apologize! Hopefully you can all forgive me and appreciate the update none the less ;)

Well, here we are....almost 1 full month at home! What a month it has been. The first few weeks were pretty rough. We knew that it wouldn't be easy and that dad would need a lot of extra TLC, but I was hoping that he would progress a bit quicker than he did. He had no appetite and little motivation, neither of which his fault, just an accumulation of all that his body had been thru.

His weeks were filled with home health visits once a week, home physical therapy three times a week, occupational therapy twice a week and an average of 3 doctors appointment each week. He had an IV line and antibiotics for the first week or so and was on home oxygen. He also came home with a urinary catheter, which has been less that enjoyable for him, of course.

The IV line was discontinued after the antibiotics finished and as of today....the oxygen is gone!!!! He is still stuck with the catheter after a failed attempt to discontinue that, but at his appointment tomorrow, we are hoping that he can say goodbye to that as well.

He came home from the hospital with a front wheeled walker and was hanging on to that for dear life. A definite requirement for any mobility for him!!! About two weeks ago, I (with the doctors approval) adjusted some of dad's medication, and he has had an amazing transformation ever since!!!

Within 2 days he was eating considerable amounts and with nutrition came energy. Last week mom got him the Cadillac of walkers....a 4 wheel walker with brakes and a seat.....and watch out world....Dad is on the move!

He has felt better, had more energy and is trying to do much more than he has been. He has made it upstairs for showers a few times and going in and out of the house (we have a few stairs) is hardly a challenge anymore. Tomorrow he will begin cardiac rehab at a local hospital and the past few days he has even sat out on the deck for a few hours. On Sunday, at his request, we even headed out to Richmond (about 2 hours away) to visit some of our family. We spent the entire day out there and although he was exhausted, he did very well. I must admit, the timing wasn't the greatest for me, as I have a ton to do in the next week before my next class starts, but I went along out of fear for how he would do! He did great, and my chores and tasks will always wait for me! We had a great visit with the family and I know that he enjoyed himself!

Dad's biggest struggle at the moment is his weight. He is down from 192 to 158. Now that would be fine, if he hadn't lost all of his muscle. With eating and exercise, I am sure he will build those back in no time.

Mom and Dad's house is still sitting empty. Ryan and Mom take turns going over to mow the grass and we stop by often to check on it. Hopefully soon we can get them all moved in and into their own space. When he is ready, I know it will be nice for him to have more space and freedom. Right now we pretty much have him confined downstairs, which I am sure gets old. Things will happen when they are supposed to, and none of us are in any big hurry!!!

Well....I suppose I will post a few pictures, at dad's request! I will try to update more often....but don't expect miracles there.....the time flies by faster than I can even handle!!!

Skinny Dad from the side....a few days ago
Skinny Dad from the front....someone insisted on being in the picture...fyi she is 38 pounds for perspective on skinny dad....all those lines and dots you see on dad are incisions.

The back view....under the right shoulder blade is the incision from his lung surgery that scoops around to his side.

Dad and his new walker....where are his legs???? They are so skinny!

Wacky Delainey bugging an exhausted Papa....he is checking his oxygen level off the oxygen!

The last picture I have of Dad before all of this....the day before Easter....he didn't feel good here at all! Ended up in the hospital less than a week later!

Dad being wheeled out to his helicopter when he was transferred from my hospital to downtown Indy....his escorts include a PCA, MD, RN, RT, Paramedic and following behind, not in the picture, the AA. In other words.....a lot of people!

THEIR NEW HOUSE!!!!

Partial view of the driveway from the garage (looking at the street).

Looking at the garage/side of the house from the driveway.

The front of the house from about halfway up the driveway.

The other side of the house.....and a very tiny Delainey!

Dad's little barn....you know him....he will have it filled in no time! There is a covered space for boat storage behind it that Ryan feels will be perfect for the boat we don't have and can't afford :)

The covered front porch....it is so relaxing!

The view from the front porch....those two trees are about 2/3 of the way to the front of the property line and street.

The back of the house, behind the side load garage.

Delainey enjoying the front porch!

Delainey running in the front yard!

P.S. For those wanting the address....we will send out change of address cards for them when they are actually in!

DAD IS HOME!!!!!!!!

After 5 weeks and 1 day, Dad is finally at home!

We had to push a bit to get him discharged before the holiday weekend but we felt that it was much better to get him home then to have him just sit around until Tuesday, just because of the long weekend. (By the way, Tuesday is Mom and Dad's 36th anniversary, which is ironic since he spent 36 days in the hospital! What a extra special anniversary this will be!)

Of course, the hospital and physicians were recommending that he go into a rehab facility for awhile, which would have been good for him, but he didn't want to. I can't say as though I blame him, and he will mentally do much better being at home.

Getting him out of the hospital was a bit of a challenge due to some insurance complications. They sent him home with a bit of oxygen and had to change suppliers at the last minute. He didn't actually leave the hospital until almost 6pm, after waiting all day. This of course, wasn't ideal, but at least he was able to leave. He was nervous that something was going to happen at the last minute to make them keep him, which was a fear of mine too, being a holiday weekend.

Dad did pretty well for the hour ride home and it took about 15 minutes to get him into the house. We have a few steps in the front and a few steps in the garage and although the garage way is a bit longer for him, I felt it was the best way, since there is a handrail. He took two little breaks from the car the to steps and then was able to power his way into the house.

Shortly after he arrived home, the home health nurse came by for a quick assessment and the oxygen supplier brought all of his home oxygen equipment and tanks. After all of that, we gave him his medications and IV antibiotics and settled him in bed and let him sleep for a few hours. We had to wake him up twice during the night for his IV antibiotics, but he said he was still able to sleep better than in the hospital.

He has been very weak and very depressed. The weakness will take some work and time, and physical therapy will be coming by the house in the next few days to start a plan. As far as the depression, we can already see a slight improvement. Being somewhere familiar is a huge comfort, I am sure, and we are just glad to have him home.

I expect that the next few days will be pretty lazy days. He has a lot of sleep to catch up on and I think he deserves a few lazy days. After that, I am signing him up for Jazzercise! Or maybe I will bring him out into the living room and put Richard Simmons or one of those other very annoying and very hyper exercise TV shows on for him.

We have a lot of appointments to set up and still a lot of plans to make for him, but saving at least 2 hours a day driving to and from the hospital and having him all set up in his little mock nursing home room in what used to be Delainey's playroom is nice. Delainey even enjoyed just sitting with her Papa on his bed for about an hour this morning.

And, another big change in the house....we no longer have Delainey on the baby monitor. With her snoring and apnea episodes, we never really felt comfortable not having her on a monitor. Now that she is 3 months out from surgery, and we can no longer hear a peep from her silent and restful breathing, we have put the monitor to better uses. It's in Papa's room and mom and I each have a handset to hear him with! It worked great last night so he could call if he needed anything! It was either that, or I was going to give him Delainey's bike horn, which probably would have lead to a lot of middle of the night barking from Sheba!

Oh, and speaking of Sheba....she is so adorable. She just sits at the door of Papa's room and gives him a concerned little look. Every time we go in there for anything, she is right by our side just making sure everything is all right. She barked for about the first hour he was home, but mostly because of all the strangers in the house while we had her locked outside. After that, she settled right down and went into concerned mode. What a great little dog she is!

Oh, and I guess I will mention my crappy knee, as well. Don't ask me what I did, but I hurt it somehow on Monday night. I think it was pushing up to climb into the truck, but I am not completely sure. I don't remember it hurting then, but it sure hurt when I got out of the truck. I thought that it would go away and be better by Tuesday, but I was wrong. I headed to the ER, with the help of a great friend to be my Delainey wrangler! They did xrays and said there was fluid in my knee and wanted me to see an ortho specialist. On Wednesday morning, I saw the ortho doc and his initial impression was that he thought it was a really bad lupus flare. I didn't completely buy that, but he wanted to get an MRI just in case, so I went with it. I have never had a lupus flare suddenly affect only one joint, though I am sure it is possible, it just isn't something I have experienced in all these years. I had the MRI that afternoon and got the results back on Friday. Being the impatient person that I am, I requested a copy myself before the doc had a chance to call me. Then when they finally called me, I slept through the message. The message said everything was "fine" but that the doctor wanted a second opinion on the films, so they were going to have an additional radiologist read them and get back to me on Tuesday. "Fine" but wants a second opinion? Interesting! According to the copy I got, I have a ganglion cyst on my ACL (ligament that stabilizes the knee) and my medial meniscus (cartilage that sits on the inside of the knee joint) is torn. Doesn't sound fine to me, but what do I know. I will just wait to see what they say on Tuesday. Ironically, the MRI also showed metal in both the front and back of my knee, which the MRI said was consistent with previous surgery, however I shouldn't have any metal, as far as I know. My last surgery was pretty minor and basically involved scraping off a bunch of calcium deposits. Why metal would be left behind for that, I am not so sure. Again, we will have to wait and see what information Tuesday brings.

For now, we are all home, safe and sound and hoping for some good progress in the next few days. Continued thanks to all of the amazing people in our lives! We would not have made it through all of this chaos without all of you, and hopefully soon we can get the proper thanks out where they are deserved! Love you all!!

Day 19 - Part 2

Well, we just went back and visited dad again. They have removed the breathing tube and although that is more comfortable, he is in a lot of pain. He is very rational and understanding though....I told him that he was going to have a lot of pain today and he said "yep, and tomorrow, too".

They have been able to wean one of the meds to keep his blood pressure up but have needed to increase the other one a bit to compensate.

He does have 3 chest tubes in his side that all exit thru one place.

We learned that he had 2 units of blood during surgery and mom seemed a little weirded out by that ;)

He will just be needing lots of rest today, of course, and hopefully tomorrow will bring a good day for him.

He seems very tolerant of this situation and I really believe it is because he knows he is a few steps from home now.

Dad's sister has come back to town to be here for the surgery, but she is staying at a hotel near the hospital, to be closer. Today Aunt Cheryl and Aunt Debbie both drove in from eastern Indiana to be here with us, and what a relief that has been!

I am sure that we will all sleep well tonight knowing that dad continues to be in good hands and that he is a few steps closer to coming home.

Thank you all again for everything, and please know....proper thanks will come later!

Dad - Day 19 (I think!) - Part 1

Today was surgery number 2 for dad....and hopefully the last!

Surgery was scheduled for 7:30 this morning and lasted about 2 hours. It took them about an hour to get him settled to a point where we could take a peek and we only were able to see him for just a second.

The surgeon says that it went well, but that dad was a mess and full of purulent gunk! They were able to go in and do surgery without removing any portion of the lung, but just open up the abcess and clean it out. The surgeon said that he left the area open in the lung and that it will just heal together over time. His exact words were that dad was a mess in there.

Since we were only there for a second, I am not sure the number of the drains and what not, but I saw at least 2 chest tubes and the surgeon mentioned that he has a few other drains as well. He has an a-line again and another big central line in addition to his PICC line. He is back on the breathing machine and they didn't give us a clear answer on how long they expected him to be intubated. Obviously, the sooner they extubate, the better, but over the past few days he has started to get septic and now that they have opened things up, the doctor said that he is sure that he is going to get very septic tonight. He is back on the heavy medication to keep his blood pressure up and I did see that they had given him a blood transfusion. I will get more details later, but that is what I could see at a quick glance.

I did tell him that we were going to step out and to get some rest and although his eyes are closed, he nodded "yes".

The nurses ask for about 2 hours to get him settled and allow him to recover and then we will be able to go back in and see him and ask some questions.

I will keep you all updated as we learn more! Keep the prayers coming!

Dad - Day 15

I cannot believe that we are more than two weeks into this ordeal!

Dad has been out of CVCC (cardiac icu) for a few days now and finally can see the light of the outside world. I think it will take a few days, but I am sure it will make a difference in his moods. Yesterday was a bit of a rough day. Dad was feeling well enough to be grumpy, so mom didn't visit long. Auntie stayed all day with him but mom stayed away, and with me back at work, I didn't see him yesterday.

Apparently he had a fall yesterday...just trying to be Mr. Independent...and a chair had slipped out from underneath him. Because of this, when mom went to visit this morning they had a bed alarm on, which he doesn't like. Mom said that he had called the nurse for some help, and after 15 minutes no one had come to help him, so he looked at mom and said watch this.....he lifted his butt up off of the bed and the bed alarm went off.....3 people ran in the room and no surprise.....Dad has found a way to manipulate the system. What a nut.

Mom says that he was feeling better today because they have finally given him a plan. Supposedly surgery will be Tuesday morning and the doctors told him that from today, he will probably be looking at 10 to 12 more days. He can see the light at the end of the tunnel, finally, and although things will still be tough, he is feeling better about it.

I have worked the past two days, and will be at work again tonight. I joke that I had to go back to work so I could get some rest, but of course, that isn't completely true. I am trying to sleep during the day, as usual, but it is hard to stay asleep.

Auntie is still here and will be heading back to California tomorrow. I will be sad to see her go and hope she can come back soon for a real visit. Obviously, I haven't been able to show her around at all, so one of these days I would like to!

Aunt Carol will be coming back from Virginia on Sunday. She plans to stay at a hotel by the hospital so that she can be close to dad. She will be staying a whole week. I am relieved that she will be back and hopefully this visit will be a little less stressful than the last one! I know that dad will be relieved to have her back, too!

As long as all is well, I plan on updating every few days instead of daily...so now news is good news!

Now.....off to work I go!

Dad - Day 13

Well, I first must apologize for taking a few days off....things are fine, but to tell you the truth, I really was just too tired to type!!!

Let me catch you all up to speed.....

I left the hospital on Sunday morning, about 11ish, after spending the whole night there. Mom stayed with him that whole day and then spent the night, since he just seemed like he needed a little extra TLC. On Sunday they decided to remove his chest tube, since it really wasn't in place anymore. He did ok through the night and was doing fine even when mom left.

I basically slept off and on all day Sunday and Sunday night, trying to catch up on way overdue sleep. My plan was to head into the hospital late morning/early afternoon on Monday, after mom got home. When Mom left, my Aunt Debbie ended up going to the hospital, so I decided to catch up on all of my bills and papers that have been piling up. She called at about 1 and said that they had gotten the results of his CAT scan from that morning and had decided that he needed another chest tube. I was so relieved that she was there!!! Dad was very agreeable and said he was fine with it as long as they sedated him. I spoke with the NP on the phone and headed to the hospital.

By the time I got there, the chest tube was in, and in a more comfortable spot that the previous one, and dad was sitting up eating. Aunt Debbie headed home and I visited with Dad. He again asked why he just couldn't go home and I broke the news to him that the doctor said it would probably be another week or two before surgery. I also explained that he couldn't come home until the chest tube could stay out for a few days and also that he could walk. So far, he has only been able to transfer from the bed to the chair and is very week. I also tried to make him realize that he is an hour away from our house and that if, God forbid, something go wrong, he would have to go to a smaller hospital that won't be able to manage his needs as well. He seemed to understand, but is discouraged. I also told him that if I saw any opportunity, I would bring him home, and honestly, I would. He just has to be stable and be able to walk....we have done the IV antibiotic thing before at home, and I will do it again in a heart beat.

Mom started working from home again on Monday, so after she left in the morning, she wasn't able to come back. I also left a little early, about 7, to try to get things done around the house and get Delainey ready for her Tuesday morning dance class. Delainey has been doing very well, but she is feeling the stress and I am trying to give her as much of her normalcy back as I can. Auntie is still here from California, and has been so helpful just hanging out and playing with her.....she definitely needs the attention!

Tuesday, Mom headed to the hospital very early so she could spend a few hours with him before having to start work. She is working on California hours, so she has to be back home by 11 to start work. I took Delainey to dance and then Auntie, Delainey and I grabbed a quick lunch. We also grabbed a few things that dad had requested....some things to pass the time. We got home and I got my stuff together to head to the hospital. On my way, I took a different road, thinking it would be faster and got a speeding ticket! UGH! First ever!!! The cop asked where I was headed and I said to the hospital. He asked if there was an emergency and I said that my dad was in ICU and was pretty sick but that there was no actual emergency and he gave me a ticket. Ok.....yes I was speeding, though I didn't know that at the time....really I thought the speed limit was higher, but oh well, I suppose I deserved the ticket....just wish the guy had more compassion!!!!!

When I finally got on the freeway, I got a call from a friend who needed some help, so I changed direction and headed back that way. Although I wanted to go see dad, sometimes the schedule needs to be adjusted a bit, and honestly, I know that my friends are there for me when I need them and I like to be there for them, too! I went and picked my friend up and we both headed to visit dad for a bit.

Dad is a bit sad, but I think a lot of that has to do with the room he is in. They call it "the cave" and he is all the way back in a corner with now window or anything to look at. The hospital is so busy that this was the only room. After 10 days of being in this room, I am sure anyone would be sad. Well, mom had already told me before I saw him, but apparently his new chest tube had pulled out during the night. The doctors decided to wait and see how he does, and so far he was doing good. He was off his oxygen and has been eating great. He just needs to get his strength up! I think he enjoyed having a new visitor too, because he seemed much more lively when he was chatting with my friend...just talking about Nascar and guy stuff. I think it was good for him to have someone to talk to besides us, because we tend to have more serious discussions. We didn't stay long, because we had to take care of some things for my friend, but dad was very understanding. They were also waiting for a room for dad, and were finally going to transfer him....after 2 cancelled transfer orders! At about 11 last night, they called and said that they moved him, so I am glad. I think a few days in a new room will do a lot for him!

Mom is there now, before working, and she took Auntie with her. Delainey will be going to school today, so Auntie will spend the day with dad and I will try to go up before I head to work. I am going to try to head back to work tonight and want to try to work as much as I can, so that I can be home with him when he gets home. My work says they are not expecting to see me, but I am planning to be there! Mom says that dad is doing ok, but still a bit sad. She also said one of my friends was there visiting after she had worked her shift at the hospital...thank you Brenda for checking on dad!!

After yesterday, I actually felt a little better. I think dealing with someone else's emergency situation was kind of like a mental break from our situation. It was still a bit stressful and everything, but seeing a fresh face and taking a break from the walls of the hospital was a nice change.....wish it wasn't under the circumstances that it was, but none the less, it was nice to focus on something different!

Well, I must go do laundry and run a few errands and try to catch a nap before work. The next few days will only be short updates since I will be getting them second hand. I don't think I will make it to the hospital with working and everything! Thank you for your continued prayers and support! And sorry for taking a few days off!!!

Dad - Day 10

I had every intention of posting an update yesterday, but time got away from me, and by the time we got home at 10pm, I crashed.

Yesterday was an ok day for dad. He was completely detached from everything except for his one initial chest tube and was feeling relatively well. In the afternoon, the antibiotics started taking a toll on him and his GI tract and although tired and weak, he was still hanging in there pretty good.

We headed home after change of shift and stopped to have one last dinner with Aunt Carol before she heads home, and as I said, by 10, I was out.

At about 11:30 I got a call from the hospital. Dad was confused and wanted to come home. I tried to talk to him on the phone, but he said that he needed me and wanted me to bring him home. I told him that I couldn't bring him home, but that I would come sit with him.

When I got to the hospital, dad was having a rough time. He was complaining of shoulder blade pain, was short of breath and his bladder was full but he couldn't go. The nurse was trying to do everything she could to take care of him, but dad just felt awful. I asked the nurse to get him something to help with his urination, and she did and then scanned dad's bladder with a ultrasound....his bladder was full. She had to empty his bladder with an in and out catheter, which took care of that problem.

I was really concerned about his pain and breathing but the episodes would ease some with pain medication, so the nurse didn't seem as concerned as I was. What worried me was that he kept putting his arm up above his head like he had been doing before, and in the time that I had left and returned, his chest tube drainage was looking more infectious. After a bit and a few other sets of eyes looking at dad, they agreed to do his morning chest xray a bit early. While they waited, they turned to chest tube back to suction. The xray showed that the tube had pulled back a little and air is probably getting trapped in his chest tissues causing pain. His white blood cell count is also climbing and his blood pressure has dropped again. They gave him some extra fluid to help with the blood pressure and we will have to wait to see if the infectious disease doctor has any new plans for his infection. Since his lung remains inflated, the turned the chest tube back to waterseal.

I did talk to the cardiothoracic surgeon this morning and haven't really discussed that whole situation with dad yet. The plan is still to do surgery on dad's lung to get the abcess out. Unfortunately, the time line that the surgeon gave today was in another week or two, meaning dad would have to stay in the hospital the whole time.

He has been doing so good and although feeling weak, has been very agreeable and kind. His legs just don't seem to be connecting with his brain right now, and although determined, he has not been able to bear weight. His legs just collapse on him. Over the past few days he has been doing his exercises and his hands and legs are getting stronger, but he definitely needs more time. He has been very nice to everyone and has been following directions amazingly well. There is one nurse that is more of a no nonsense type, and he is getting a bit frustrated with her tactics, but still has done remarkably well.

They were initially planning to transfer him out of CVCC, but with his events of the night, they have decided to keep him here. Since I stayed here with him, mom is taking Aunt Carol to the airport this morning, and I have asked Auntie to stay home with Delainey. She spent the whole day here yesterday and I think she needs to stay home and play, and if dad is still feeling this way, she really doesn't need to be here. Mom will head here after the airport and I will try to head home to get some sleep.

Although I don't mind being here if that is what dad wants or needs, I do hope that things calm down with him so that we can all get our rest. Since it sounds like we are in for a long haul, we are going to need rest wherever we can get it.

I hope that all of you mothers have a wonderful mothers day, and those who usually get cards from me....ummmmm, well, that just won't be happening this year....sorry!

I will update as I get more information and please change our address in your address books to the hospital since it sounds like we will be camping out for awhile. I wonder if they would notice if I slipped my laundry into the linen bags? Do you think they would know where to deliver the fluffed and folded clothes? Hmmmmm.....might be worth a try.....either way I won't have to do the laundry....if they do it for me, problem solved, if they don't return them....well, then, problem solved too! We'll see!