One More Thing

One thing I forgot to mention in my most recent post is that Dad is on TPN (Total parenteral nutrition), valium, and a pain patch (Fentanyl). This is all he is on currently.

Lacking Info

I've received a few e-mails saying you all need to be better informed, so I'm going to address some of your concerns here...

Dad has lost roughly 60-70 pounds.

In the rehabilitation center, he has a private room.

Also, if you want to send a card or anything like that, the address is 8050 Township Line Rd, Indianapolis, 46260.

Mom is hanging in there. She is exhausted, though and keeping up with updating everyone while being at the hospital has been stressful for her. Even with this blog and e-mails, she still gets several phone calls from her sisters and Dad's work associates and friends and it is tiring to reiterate the same information to everyone and rekindle stress.

In terms of Dad's state of mind, he is hanging in there too, but is understandably growing quite tired of the hospital. Thankfully, he is sleeping much better lately and with the reduction of the antidepressants, he is more alert.

Thankfully, Harry will be home for the summer this weekend. So, he will be able to give us some extra help.

Let us know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Medication Update

Last week, we were concerned that Dad was receiving too many antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications since he was appearing very weak and lethargic. We addressed these concerns to the doctor and he agreed that Dad may have been overmedicated, so he reduced the doses significantly and Dad responded well. More awake and alert. There was also a check on his kidneys recently and everything is fine.

That's all the news for now. Let us know if you have any other questions.

News on Rehab

Sorry for the delay in blog posts. We just need everyone to be patient with us-- Reiterating the same information through phone calls, e-mail, etc. to several family members can be very tiring. However, we appreciate your concern, so we will try to stay more consistent with these blog entries.

Dad was moved to the rehabilitation center yesterday. This transition was a little tough on him, but the facility is very nice. The doctors and nurses are very warm and accomodating and even an improvement over the nurses in the regular ICU from what we have seen so far.

Dad is now on a feeding tube (which he will have for a few months until the next surgery to reattach his esophagus to his stomach.)

Other than that, he is in good spirits (talking, moving around a lot--walking the halls a little bit, etc.)

Please let us know of any questions or concerns you have so we can address them in this blog. Thank you.

Rehab

Dad is on his way to rehab next week and doctors remain optimistic about his recovery.

Tracheotomy

Dad's tracheotomy has been removed and he is healing nicely. Doctors estimate a week or two of hospital time left, assuming everything goes smoothly, for physical therapy and overall recovery.

New Room

Dad has been moved to a regular room (no longer in ICU) which is a very good sign. Doctors remain optimistic about his recovery. 

Great News

Dad is now completely off of dialysis and talking. The recovery will still be a long haul, but things are definitely moving in the right direction. 

Moving in the Right Direction

Dad is now completely off of Ativan and much more awake and responsive. Despite being off of Ativan, he seems very calm and comfortable.

Yesterday, he was able to stand up and sit in a chair. In terms of his other abilities, he is now able to write a little bit and in a couple of days, he will be able to talk because the doctors are downsizing his tracheotomy and capping it.

So, news is good for now.

Ventilator

The doctors took Dad completely off of the ventilator and he is breathing easily on his own.

Esophagus Repair

As I mentioned in a previous post, there was a leak in Dad's esophagus which was repaired by a stent. It now turns out that the leak had formed a hole in the esophagus which caused the infection that was effecting his kidneys. So, the source of the infection has finally been found, which is a big relief. The doctors have detached his esophagus from his stomach and are draining it. They are confident that this takes care of the infection. However, they are still keeping him on dialysis, but they may slow that down and just put him on it for brief periods of time.

In addition to the detachment of his esophagus, the doctors performed a tracheotomy. So, he no longer has a breathing tube and he seems to be breathing easily on his own.

His esophagus will be detached for quite some time, but I don't want to reveal any certain amount of time until the doctors are absolutely sure.

This all sounds very serious and it is, but I want to assure you all that Dad really is getting much better. Now that his infection is solved and he's breathing more on his own, he is much more comfortable and able to rest more easily. He is also less heavily sedated, more awake and alert. Yesterday, he was even smiling and mouthing messages to us.

Alas, I am not a doctor. So, I cannot be as specific about all of this information as I would like to be. I hope you all feel well-informed, though and let me know if you have questions about anything.

Current Status

Dad is much less sedated. He's not up and talking yet, though.

There was leakage in his new esophagus which the doctors solved through putting in a temporary stent.

All in all, he's doing well. Heart rate and blood pressure are a little high, but that is normal given the lack of sedation.

That's all the news we have for now.

Coming Soon...

Sorry I haven't updated this lately. I promise to write a new post tomorrow. News is good for now, though.

Improvement

Dad's heart rate is now in the 60s (HUGE improvement from a few days ago when it was 150) and the doctors are slowly taking him off of his blood pressure medication.

The doctors also think the dialysis appears to be helping with his infection.

That's all the news for now. We'll continue to keep you updated...

Doctors' Optimism

Dad's heart rate is even better now (Low 70s) and the doctors are quite happy with his progress. They said, "We're not out of the woods yet, but we're heading in the right direction." This is a huge attitude change from two days ago when they were acting very "doom and gloom." Even Dr. Kesler, an extremely stern and serious man, cracked a smile when he looked at Dad's numbers recently.

We knew Dad's heart rate and blood pressure were improving, but it was difficult to feel very relieved without confirmation from the doctors. Now that the doctors are positive (I'd actually go as far as to say "excited") about his progress, we can all breathe a little easier. They said the road to recovery is still very long, but Dad's progress right now is quite good.

As far as the kidney infection goes, there is still no word on the cause. However, the doctors do not seem too alarmed. In fact, they said that they see infections sometimes that form and then go away for no rhyme or reason.

Right now, news is pretty good all around. We'll keep you updated...

Currently...

We're creating this blog to keep everyone up to speed on Dad's progress...

As many of you know, the doctors successfully removed his tumor and found no new signs of cancer. However, during recovery, a kidney infection formed (the source of the infection is still unknown) and his heart rate and blood pressure became irregular.

The good news is that his heart rate is now under control (It is in the 80s) and his blood pressure is close to 120/80.

The doctors did some blood tests to determine the source of the kidney infection, but there is still no new information on that.