Friday, Saturday

Dad continues to improve. He has been taken off of his vent completely now. It is a lot of work for him but his test show that he is able to handle it ok. Sat. they removed his swan from his heart. They also did a swallow test and he passed so this evening he is enjoying a chocolate milk shake!!!!! He has only been responsive since tues. so this pace is really very fast. He is very weak and has troubles lifting his arms and hands but it won't be very long untl he is strong again. Dialysis is still in his future so we pray that the kidneys finish healing soon.

Thanksgiving Day

We are giving thanks for answered prayer today. Dad is able to "talk" and even trying to write on a notepad. Mom and I are spending the day with my Uncle Dwayne and Aunt Anna. Her family has invited us to an Italian American Thanksgiving.... What fun we had! The food was wonderful and so was our time spent together. Dad trys to sleep most of the time and has a pain pump. The staff here are beginning to talk about Dad's future. Mom and I noticed thay hadn't done that before now. We are not out of danger yet but we have hope and that is enough.

Wednesday is even better.

This is a wonderfully blessed day. Dad is able to focus his eyes on us for a few seconds at a time. He can move his arms and hands some and responds to request to move his feet and legs. The best news is his kidneys are beginning function. It will be a long road to complete recovery but at least we have begun the journey.

Tuesday is a good day.

This early noontime Daddy began responding! He stuck out his tongue so the nurse(our sweet Miss Kim) could brush his teeth. He is moving his right leg some and shakes his head to answer my question of do you hear me? Yeah! God is soooo good. Last night the trama Dr. Udobi did what he called house keeping. He moved dad's central line and iv to his leg and then put a tube called a swan into his heart. It runs all the way through his chambers and into the pulminary artery. This can keep the minute details and pick up exactly what his heart is doing. He still goes into a-fibbut responds to meds. The heart Dr. isn't worried about his heart having long lasting problems, she thinks time will help. The nero resident had him moving his eyes in response to her directions. All of this is such an answer to prayers. Yesterday I was so afraid that he wasn't going to come back to us. I wasn't loosing faith but was getting ready for whatever God was bringing our way. It is still a very long journey for dad and us , but we are not alone.

Sunday, Monday

For Sunday our biggest concern was Daddy not responding after ending his seditive and pain meds. Today he had another round of dialysis. He still isn't responding but his breathing had increased rate so they began the pain meds again. The trama team was changed over today and Dad was re-evaluated by Dr. Udobi. They want him to wake up also! yeah, we are all on the same team. Dad had an MRI and CAT scan last night,they both showed nothing wrong. The newest stratagy is to make sure the heart is operating properly, it is in a-fib again today and keep his blood pressure high enough. They have ordered many more xrays and blood test. We wait and see and pray a lot. The kidney problem is a concern but not a priority for now.
On a happier note, Saturday was a hit and Tessa celebrated a wonderful second birthday. Papa and I had gotten her a new indoor/outdoor slide. She loves it! I wouldn't be surprised to see it in the livingroom when I get back home. We sat it up on the screend in porch but Bubbers wants to crawl out there too! Tessa also got a new pair of boots. She had gone home that night and had her pjs on, when Branden went to check on her she had them back on over her pj footies! do I know my girl or what?

It is a BIG Happy Birthday Day

Today is Daddy's 74th birthday. I am at home with my family this weekend celebrating Tessa's Happy #2 birthday. She shares this wonderful day with her greatpapa Jim. Daddy was born on his mom's 21st birthday. Today she would have been 95. Happy Birthday Grandma, we love and miss you very much. I gave daddy a big kiss and hand rub yesterday before I left. I will be going back to KC on monday morning and spend the week with mom.
Daddy had dialysis again today. It helps his system when they remove the fluid. He is considered improving by the Dr. but it is still such small steps. I pray that his lungs continue to be clear. I don't want to borrow trouble but that is so vital to his recovery. They haven't decided when to bring him out of his sedation. I think every day he is sleeping is another day of healing and one less of pain. They don't like to keep them down too long because of the lung problems. It is such a give and take time for his health care. I do like the nurses and Dr.s that have been overseeing his care and am thankful for their concern and hard work.
Now we are getting ready to party hardy and celebrate Miss Tessa's Happy second Birthday! fun fun fun till the sun goes down, (hat leaves us about 3 min. haha)

friday

We are thankful everyday for Daddy's Dr.s. We have a trama Dr. that is staying very close to dad's case. He is having several problems today. His pancrease is slow and they gave him insulin today to help it out, not sure if this is new or if it just was bad enough today to give him the insulin. His kidneys keep improving very slowly but improving. They ran three hours of dialysis yesterday and are again today. they took 3 Lts of fluid off yesterday, that is about 6 and 1/2 lbs of fluid. This will probably continue for a few more days. His heart was running fast after surgery so they had a continual med in his iv. they were going to push through a lg dose to correct the speed when they noticed that daddy had self corrected. so no push. Today though, his heart has sped back up and a cardio team has been called in to evaluate. They are keeping him sedated so he can continue to heal. The vent is slowly being weaned off.

thursday 11/19

dad is resting again today, listed are a few of the plans and problems he faces
>still on ventilator
>sedated
>irregular heartbeat, meds to regulate
>regular scheduled dialysis due to renal failure, the prayers are thet this self corrects, some output on his own
>feeding tube
what a day.

Surgery Day

Today has started well. It seems that the bladder surgery did it's job and the amount of output has increased and it is much clearer. Isn't it fun to talk about someone elses pee and that someone is your daddy? haha They took him into surgery this morning about 11:10. So the wait has begun.
1:35>they have the first and main screw put in place. so far so good. 5:40> more hardware is in place and they are about ready to turn him. he is doing fine so far.7:00> The internal part seems to be finished?, they are putting the external hardware in now.
9:00> just talked to Dr Heddings, all went very well, he put a plate across the back of dad's spine and a long "bolt" that connects the back of the pelvis, a screw was placed through the left side of the pelvis, externally 2 long post screw into the front of the pelvis on each side with a stabilizer bar across the front that will stay in place for about 8 weeks or as long has dad can tolerate them, Daddy lost about 1 1/2 lts. of blood but they were able to filter it back through and gave it back to him. The front plate wasn't able to be used due to the leaking of the bladder on impact, the probability of infection was too high if they used it. So, now they are running another ct scan to check everything one more time. the kidney output was low during surgery so we aren't sure about that. he will be on the ventilator tonight,

Evening Surgery

Dad's day has been a bit calmer and he has rested better. They wanted to go ahead and repair the bladder tonight so they are taking him back soon. Of course, that is a relative term. We have been blessed with wonderful families to share the waiting room with. So much sorrow but so much hope too. Prayer circles have been a common thing today. I will edit this post later tonight after talking to Daddy's surgeon.......it is 8:20 and still waiting to take Daddy into the operating room... KU Med time is a bit like military time..hurry up and wait!...more when we get it...Dr visit was good news, repair was successful, it was needed because of a weakend area that was dying that was next to the tear and now it is all healthy tissue again. Now we wait for tomorrow and that repair.

KU Med

We are in a waiting mode today, Daddy is more aware and doing well. This hospital is no stranger to us. Dad has been here several times this year with his throat and voicebox. This place rocks. The staff, nurses, techs, Dr.s and even the cleaning crew have always been so kind and patient with us and Daddy. The team concept is strong here. This trip, the're are several teams working. Urology(bladder), renal(kidneys), pulminary(lungs), and ortho(bone surgeon). They have always known what is going on and are able to answer questions for us. The communication between each of them is amazing considering the size of this place. I especially have been very pleased with the nursing care in the surgical icu unit. Professional, calm, funny when needed and they care so much about their patients. Thanks KU Med for taking such great care of my family and my daddy.

the story: day two

Daddy has had a rough day with pain. The Dr.s are monitoring his kidney and bladder situation. It looks like they will operate on the bladder tomorrow. They would like to put it off until Wed. so he is only under once but we are waiting to see which would be best for him. This evening he had a 2 hr. dialysis session and they are repeating it again in the morning. Dad slept through it. His pain meds are making him itch so a dose of benadril helped quite a bit. He hasn't been awake much. They also put a filter in his vein to prevent any possible blood clots from traveling up to his heart or lungs.
I am taking Sarah back to Emporia tonight, sleeping there and then back to KU in the morning. Mom is heading home and will be back in the am as well. We are all a bit tired and ready for Wednesday to be here and over for Daddy. Thanks for checking in.

our mighty deerhunter

My dad, James, loves to hunt deer and this weekend opened gun season in Missouri. Dad hunts at a friends property several miles from his home. Opening day, saturday, Dad had a buck in view and stood up in his stand to get a clearer shot. The strap that attaches the stand to the tree broke. Daddy fell about 16 feet to the ground. Landing on his right knee, his entire pelvic area took the shock of the impact. His pelvis broke away from his spine on both sides. On the left side the break is fairly clean but goes all of the way through. The right side is a different story. It was crushed and the break is very jagged and mushy. The front of the pelvic bone has been seperated and will need to be repaired also. The Dr. has ordered a rare piece of equipment that will help stablize the whole pelvic floor. It should be here on Tuesday and he will have the sugery on Wednesday. Mom, Sarah and I met with the surgeon and really like him. He took us to the computer where he showed us the CT scan. That was very cool. It was a 3-D of dad's pelvis, then he printed it for us and for Sarah to take to nursing school with her for show and tell. Seriously though, his bladder seems to have a leak in it and his kidneys don't want to work at full capacity. If the kidney problem persist, he may be put on dialysis for a few days to help them get jump started. It is all a bit overwhelming right now and prayers are needed. Dad is being a great patient as always and has the staff laughing with him once in a while. His pain is intense and meds help but put him into too deep of a sleep. It will be a long week for sure. I'll update here tomorrow.