 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Still chugging along here. Been back to Windsor for a weekend trip to visit my father and take some shifts at the hospital. My mom still calls me every night with updates, and, while progress is slow, it is trending upward. He's now reached the point where he can sit up for a little while, and even walk around for maybe a minute or two -- and given where he was three weeks ago, I think this absolutely great. They're still trying to figure out elements of his blood chemistry, but, the main point is that we're now in the 'gain strength and endurance phase.' Well, except for the fact that he's VRE positive, so he's back in isolation, but, that's more for the protection of the other patients than himself.
It's now been 32 days since my mom brought him to the hospital; and about two days ago was the first time a doctor brought up a potential time line for getting my father back home in Windsor. Hopefully soon enough so that my mom won't get sick over the whole thing, like I did. (I picked up a chest cold somewhere, and it's only finally disappearing...)
Unfortunately, the other bomb I've been juggling has been work. Last week I spent three days in Windsor, and I still managed a 56 hour week. I'm probably going to break 65 this week. You sometimes have to do this in small companies (especially when you're the point guy on a lot of stuff), but, man, I really wish that people could make final decisions on things with more than three weeks warning, ya know? So, even though my dad is improving, thus reducing the need to be in the Windsor (or the chance that I'll have to drop everything and be in Windsor now), life is still not normal for me. Well, maybe overwork is normal for me, for those who've seen some of the jobs I've done over the years. (8-)
The bad part here is that this type of work schedule will be happening on and off all the way until late July. So, what I was hoping would be a reasonably normal year is now turning into a 2005 -- and, hopefully my heart won't go crazy as it did back then. I've learned some tricks, and I'm in considerably better shape, and, while the price is high, the benefits for the company (and myself, hopefully!) will be great. In any event, first, I have to make my deadlines for this weekend. Then, I'll hopefully have a chance to step back, actually take a day off that means puttering around the apartment taking a day off, and we'll see what's going on then... and maybe actually see some friends I haven't seen in several months or longer... Tags: father08, greetings
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks again to everybody expressing their best wishes and prayers. Sarah and I just got back from another trip from Windsor.
The short form: my dad is still in intensive care, still not stable, but, the doctors there now have a working hypothesis and are basing treatment from there. There's a chance that they might be able to get him off the ventilator sometime this weekend, which would make him a lot more comfortable. In any event, while there's always the risk of something going wrong, they've now smacked down the most dangerous things (the pneumonia, blood pressure problems, opportunistic infections) and there's no immediate danger, and a good chance now that my dad will make a decent, if not full recovery.
At some point, I would like to tell the whole story; I think there are some useful lessons to be learned here, if (God forbid) a loved one should require intensive care support while you live out of town. But, right now, I'm just a little too tired, a little too emotional, the information is just a little too raw. Tags: father08, greetings
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thank you to everybody for all the well wishes. A couple of people have asked why I didn't say something sooner; part of the problem was the timing (I found out about what was going on Sunday, by Monday I was back in Windsor, got back Tuesday night, was in the office pounding code Wednesday and Thursday, which didn't leave a lot of time for LJ posts), and a part of the problem was, well, I didn't know what to say about his condition (I didn't want to say anything until I knew either a) he was stable and had a fighting chance or b) I knew it was all over. The last thing I wanted to do was end up writing a saga about it, both for the sake of people who read this LJ, and for the sake of my own emotional state.)
A quick status report: he's still stable in ICU, but he's now breathing on his own, and while he still has the occasional fever, the doctors think they now have the infection under control. In particular, they drained 300cc of fluid last night from his lungs (!) and it hasn't come back. His blood pressure is now back to normal, and so is his heart rate; and they're now convinced that it's "just" pneumonia, and that there's no other significant damage to any other system. In particular, they've now reduced the sedation so that he's in a semi-conscious state, and he's responding to stimuli. According to my mom, he even opened his eyes at one point, then fell back asleep.
So, hopefully, while we're not out of the woods yet, we now see the path out of the forest.
Here's hoping. Tags: father08, greetings
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
hanrow's journal
Previous
