On the road again!

...just can't wait to get on the road again!

Yes, Dad is back at TG again today. Okay, last night actually.

With his heart rate zooming; fever consistently over 100 & his blood sugar double what it should be; the decision was made to head for the hospital & get everything back under control.

While Dad was on the way, the rest of us; Trish, Trish, myself, Walt & Martha (thanks for being there, you two); hustled for the hospital. You'll have to ask one of us for the rest of that story... it was quite a fiasco in & of itself!

Trish & Trish spent the night with Dad in the ER since no beds were available to admit him. This morning his heart rate's still way too high & he needs to be in a monitored bed, so he's heading for the ICU.

Obviously, he's dealing with another infection; looking like the shunt is the culprit, although possible that he's dealing with some other infection along with it.

Saturday & Sunday were such wonderful days... Pray that the physical repairs can be quick ones, and Dad can get back to that level real soon!

The Best is STILL Yet to Be!
John

Ever feel like a Yo-Yo?

Up then Down; Up then Down!

I'd been stalling on my next post... waiting for some real good news (after all, I did say there'd be more good news to come, right?).

Well, after 2 days of waiting, and more ups & downs, I figured I needed to get an update out whether there was any real good news or not.

Things have been, once again, pretty sedate since the last post. Monday, Tuesday (and so far Wednesday), Dad's given very little in the way of verbal responses.

For the most part his replies; mostly nods & shakes of the head; have been given with his eyes closed, and lots of time has been spent sleeping.

A low grade fever yesterday, but today his vitals are once again holding strong.

John (the PT guy) has been by to work with Dad on his range of motion. They're hoping he'll soon be more responsive and able to participate a little (okay, a lot)! In the mean time, they're teaching Trish what to do to help keep him loose & limber and she's passing it along to us.

What's causing the lack of responsiveness or the increased sleepiness? Nobody knows! Hopefully this time around it's brief and not detrimental to his recovery.

Keep him & the doctors and nurses that are caring for him in your prayers. Dad that he's pulls through stronger than ever. And the staff that they can discover & resolve the issues Dad's struggling with.

Pray on!
John

Strike up the Band!

Today feels like the perfect day for a parade! Well, there's definitely at least reason for celebration.

Last time I wrote about "where've you been"... since then, miraculous things have happened (did anyone pray for a miracle?)... we've had a couple of the best days I can remember in quite a while.

It started yesterday, with a pretty busy first full day back at Orchard Park. Dad, as I've mentioned before, usually has "issues" with moving.

Not so, this time! Trish & I got a single word from him again on Friday night. "Yup" was the word of choice this time, but it was a blessing none-the-less. Now, Saturday morning was another story altogether! Lots of words! Sentences! Heck, darn near whole conversations!!

Yes, Dad's ability to talk seems to be returning. Slowly, but surely, he's speaking. Pretty wispy, but real words. It was wonderful, to say the least! I'm told by evening time, Dad was pretty worn out... so there wasn't much late night jabbering going on.

Today started pretty quietly as well, although Trish had Dad giving all kinds of appropriate answers to questions she asked. Memory is still a BIG questionmark. It seems to come & go a bit, which makes it tough to tell where he's at.

As the evening progressed, Elijah and I got some real solid responses to a few questions working the old memories. While we had to talk him through "where were you born?" & "what high school in Cairo?" (we got no answers, but Dad did agree with the answers given), but when I mentioned that he joined the Navy after high school, he said he remembered that. I asked what ship were you on? He thought abought it for a bit, I added it was the USS... ? and he said, clear as a bell, "Oriskany!" For those of you that don't already know this... that's the right answer!

He's struggling to figure out who everyone is (himself included), but I told him we've got time for that. Thanks to God for that time!

Isn't it AWESOME that after all of his ups and downs (I guess, in pastoral verbage that'd be 'hills & valleys') with God's strength, Dad's back to plugging right along towards recovery.

More good news to come... PRAISE GOD!
Johnny:)

Where've you been?

As Nancy walked in this morning to see Dad (she's hanging out while Dad awaits transfer back to Orchard Park), his eyes were open which was, in and of itself, a good start. As she greeted him with a ‘hello’ he responded with a whispered, "where've you been?". I realize that's not much to write home about, but they were the first words he's spoken in at least a couple of weeks.

No more words since then (so far), but what a wonderful beginning to the first day after the shunt being put in. I'm told that the PT folks came by today and had Dad (with full assistance) sitting up on the edge of the bed to see if he could support himself but to no avail.

One good thing out of that though... his vitals didn't change drastically either. Not long ago over at Orchard Park, they sat him up and his BP dropped to almost nothing. Nice to see that there was improvement in that area, too!

Don't get me wrong, Dad's not made any significant levels of recovery as of yet. I point out what few changes have occurred to let you all know where things stand (no pun intended), and to continue to be optimistic the way that Dad brought me up to be.

Dad continues to be very un-responsive to verbal commands of any sort, very immobile on his own, and very sedate. His eyes seem to be working rather well at this point, and will follow movement from time-to-time.

The neuro-surgeon (Dr Harris) made sure to pass along to the family last night that the recovery process from this point, could be very lengthy. As we've been told previously, it's a marathon... not a sprint, and Dr Harris' comments that any level of recovery could take ‘weeks or even months’, was a good reminder of that!

So... Where've you been?
Johnny:)

Surgery Completed!

Dad got quite an early start to his day this morning.

Before most of those reading this posting (probably even before the one writing it) were even awake, Dad was already on his way back to TG for the surgical implantation of his Cerebral Shunt.

With some worries about his lingering fever, surgery went on as scheduled. By 10am, the surgeon had returned to the waiting room to let the waiting Trish's (both Momma T & Tricia Lynn were there) know that all had gone as planned.

He's expected to stay at TG "overnite", which leaves us to assume that sometime tomorrow; he'll be going back to Orchard Park.

Examples of possible complications for the shunt include malfunction, failure, and infection. Risks also came along with the PEG tube, however most significant would be the various infections that can occur.

Now, we ALL wait. I told Dad last night (I'm confident he can hear us & knows what we're saying whether he can acknowledge it or not) that we were expecting a miracle today! So, just pray for that miracle!

Or pray for God's will to be done; or for comfort for Dad, Trish, TL and the rest of the family. Pray for those missing their friend (myself included)...

Just whatever you do; Talk to God! I know dad is!

I can comfortably say that the one place I know Dad has complete clarity would be in his continued "conversations" with God.

PRAY HARD! If Dad could talk to us all right now; he'd be telling every one of us to do the same!

Still looking for a miracle!
Johnny:)

The PEG is in!

With the fever under control, the wonderful staff at TG was able to complete the PEG insertion yesterday. All went well, and now all meds, nutrition & fluids are currently being given through the PEG tube.

Today, running only a slight fever, Dad's heading back to Orchard Park for a day and a half or so. Yes, it seems odd to us as well; but that's the way the system works. He should be there midday today or thereabouts. Then settle in for Wednesday, and Thursday morning head back to TG for the next procedure.

What's next? Turns out Dad has developed Hydrocephalus; an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain; which they think is causing increased pressure inside his skull. To relieve that, they are inserting a Cerebral Shunt. The short version definition from wikipedia.com is a one-way valve used to drain excess cerebrospinal fluid from the brain and carry it to other parts of the body.

The thought is that relieving the increased pressure could help with some ongoing issues that've been hampering any recovery. Not sure how long that'll keep him back at TG, but would imagine an extra day or two. We'll keep you updated as more is known.

Johnny:)

Still Waiting...

Tests, tests and more tests!

Dad's still resting comfortably, but the fever continues to hover around the 99 to 101 degrees, and they still haven't been able to figure out the cause as of yet.

Stool cultures negative (Praise God for that) so far. And doesn't look like the C-Diff was the culprit either.

So...

Tests, tests and more tests!

It's beginning to look more and more like it'll be late next week before we get out of TG. Some folks have said, "Sorry, to hear Buddy's back in the hospital." Talking with Trish a few minutes ago; I found that all of us seem to feel exactly the opposite... we're relieved this is where he's at.

The attentive care, more tests, the staff, the attentive care... it's all very comforting (I know I said attentive care twice, but that's the part we're most pleased by).

They put an NG tube back in this morning. That will allow food, fluids & some of the meds to go that way until the PEG is in place. It's looking like that probably won't happen until next week sometime.

Keep Dad in your prayers!!
Johnny:)

5 yard penalty!

While we all know this is not a game... given Dad's love of sports, I thought the Delay of Game signal was befitting.

Still waiting on test results regarding his condition, but we know one thing for sure: The PEG is not happening today!

Spoke to Trish at Dad's bedside this morning & she said that the Doc's were gaining control of the fever (up around 103 last night) and diarrhea, but mostly allowing Dad to rest.

A few more tests today (EEG being the biggest one), then the expectation is that he'll remain in the hospital for a few days to keep stable, get the PEG procedure done and obtain results from the numerous labs, tests, etc. Then, most likely early next week, return to Orchard Park.

Keep an eye on the blog for updates. When I know... you'll know!

Prayer... Just Do It!
Johnny:)

James 5:15-16
15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Slight Change of Plans

Well, nothing ever seems to go as planned, does it? Today was no exception!

Over the past couple of days, Dad began running a fever (again). He had eaten a little Sunday morning (very little), but has not eaten anything since. The fever, combined with the onset of loose stools, presented the potential of delaying the PEG procedure planned for today.

As the day progressed, the fever continued to rise (a bit over 103 at the high end), as did the frequency of loose, watery stools (more commonly known as diarrhea). Since the facility treats such problems orally or by suppository; they had no ability to take care of either issues he was facing.

So, off to the hospital he went. Since his PEG was scheduled to be done at Baker Center, he was sent to Tacoma General (Baker is across the street). Upon entering the ER, they took a chest x-ray; sent Dad for a CT scan; started a full lab workup (blood & stool) and started antibiotics.

The initial diagnosis is Clostridium Difficile, aka C-Diff; a bacterium which is the most significant cause of Pseudomembranous Colitisa (a severe infection of the colon). According to Wikipedia, antibiotics (which Dad had been taking for a UTI) can cause disruption of normal intestinal flora, leading to an overgrowth of Clostridium Difficile. Treatment method is to stop any antibiotics and instead begin specific anticlostridial antibiotics.

Pray for healing, and that none of the issues at hand delay the PEG. We won't know whether that's going to happen or not until later this morning. I'll try and update the blog once more is known.

Johnny

PEG scheduled

Well, the IV is coming out soon.

No… Dad has not resolved any swallowing issues, but IV’s; although one of the fastest ways to deliver fluids and medications through the body; are not intended to be used for long periods of time.

Since Dad continues to have considerable difficulties swallowing, especially liquids, we’ve scheduled a Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (aka PEG).

Sounds bad, but it’s not!

For those that don’t know, Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy is the procedure for placing a tube; in Dad’s case a gastric feeding tube, or 'G-Tube'; into the stomach through the abdominal wall. The procedure is primarily used as a long-term means of providing nutrition & fluids for patients who, due to poor control over the swallowing muscles, cannot obtain enough orally, and to avoid the risk of aspiration pneumonia.

Dad can & will continue to eat & drink as much as he wants, but with the PEG tube in place, will no longer be limited by either his ability swallow or his appetite. The nurses at the SNiF will instead be able to supplement any lack in calories or hydration, as well as any necessary medications directly into the stomach through the PEG tube.

At this time the scheduled date is Tuesday, the 12th. Dad will have to be transported offsite for the procedure. Dad will be sedated, with the insertion itself taking about 20 minutes, the tube kept within the stomach by a balloon on its tip.

Once out of recovery, Dad will be transported back to the SNiF. For about a week, the abdominal wound must be covered with sterile dressings until it's healed. The procedure is supposed to be a low risk, in & out kind of deal.

Please pray for continued comfort & strength for Dad as he forges on!
John

8 weeks and counting!

Hard to believe it (at least for me) but it's been 8 weeks since Dad's aneurysm! Sometimes it feels like a lifetime ago... others it seems like moments.

I can still see Dad back in mid-July at the Rotary BBQ, standing on the Olson's dock on Lake Lawrence, saying "see you tomorrow, right?" I did see him "tomorrow"... only, it was in the hospital.

Thanks to all of you that have come by to visit Dad and support the family. Hopefully more will do the same! It's a blessing to know how many are still faithfully praying for Dad.

You're probably saying, get on with the update already. Okay, but not much new to report.

After losing 30 (or so) pounds, Dad gained weight this past week for the first time. Only 2 pounds, but that 2 pounds was enough to get us excited! He's continuing to have extreme dificulty swallowing (especially liquids of any sort), so the fact that he's been eating enough to gain weight is a true blessing!!

Liquid is still being provided by IV that we hope and pray, combined with continued nourishment, will give him enough strength to be awake more frequently.

I know it's tiring (trust me, I know)... but please continue to pray for Dad! And stop by to see him for a bit, if you'd like!

God Bless all of you for your support!
John

Want to come by for a visit?

While Dad isn't necessarily any more alert or responsive than we've mentioned in previous posts, the family has discussed it & we figure hearing and/or seeing happy voices & faces of friends would probably be a good thing!

For obvious reasons we're not giving out our phone numbers here, but if you've already got 'em, call 'em... or call 253.840.2744 and leave a message (or e-mail the PrayforBuddy address if you'd rather) to schedule a visit.

Be advised however, some folks have a little bit of a hard time seeing Dad for the first time in such a different light... so please be prepared!

Positive & uplifting visitors only!

Who knows, maybe one of you will light a spark to some old memories?

Thanks!
Johnny:)