Well, dad seems to be recovering from the ICU Psychosis. He had been saying some things that we didn't really understand. Things about a war in Las Vegas, and Amy's boyfriend losing his job over it. He also introduced us to his nurse and said that we might remember her from a flight from London. He also got pretty upset with mom one day when he found out that a friend from church had brought her all the way to see him. After a good long talk with his nurse one night things were cleared up a bit for him. He was actually thinking that he was in a hospital in Las Vegas. That explains why he was upset with mom for having her friend drive her all the way to see him. It doesn't explain the war, Amy's boyfriend losing his job, or him thinking we met his nurse on a flight from London. But, ICU Psychosis can make you think and/or see some pretty strange things.
Dad has had a few tests the past couple of days. He had a Barium Swallow test yesterday and a Heart Stress test today. The heart stress test looked good to the doctors, but they are waiting for a scan to come back so they can be 100% sure that his heart is working properly. The Septic Shock put stress on all of his organs including his heart. If the scan comes back clear than he will be released from his heart doctor. The Barium Swallow test showed that he was actually aspirating every time he swallowed. The doctor said this was very common in patients that had been on a ventilator for so long. With some muscle atrophy and having all the tubes down his throat he has basically forgotten how to swallow. He will be working with a speech therapist to relearn how to properly swallow. Until then he will be receiving his food through a tube directly into his gut.
While mom and I were visiting dad today one of the surgeon's assistants came up to see dad. He explained a lot of the previously mentioned to us. He also wrote an order for dad to be moved from ICU to a regular hospital room. So, this afternoon dad will be moving from ICU down to the sixth floor to a regular room!
Dad has made a lot of progress these past couple of weeks. The doctors are going slower this time to make sure he doesn't have another setback. As soon as they feel ready to release him from the hospital he will be moving to the Physical Therapy building. The doctor in charge over there has already come to see dad, and he'll be working with dad's surgeon to see when dad can be moved over there. They will also have to determine whether dad can handle the PT level they require (about three hours per day).
1 comment:
What a miracle that has happened, we are all so releived that the outcome is so positive! Prayers have been answered. Linda and I are so glad that things are looking up as they are. We love you all. Thanks for the update, sorry it's taken a bit of time to reply to it.
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