Ron is FINALLY HOME!!! Whew!!
The last doctor didn't get there to release him until 4:30, and we didn't get out of there until 5:15. Then we had to stop in BG at the doctor's office we're switching from to get the records transferred. We didn't get home until 6:30. By the time I got him settled, fixed him a sandwich and fruit for supper, and fed the cats and dogs, it was 8:15. I had to run back up to Rite Aid to get his medicine. His mom and step-dad sat with him til I got back. His blood pressure was only 89/59 when I took it at 8:00, so I'm not giving him any blood pressure medicine tonight. His bp this morning was 96/70, and his last pressure this afternoon at Regency was 104/71, so it's been low all day. I want to call the cardiologist in the morning. The home health care nurse should start coming to check on him some time tomorrow, so she can check his pressure, too.
I am so happy not to have to make that drive to Toledo or Sylvania any more!
Thanks, everyone for your support through this whole ordeal!
Love,
EJ
Thursday, April 9, 2009
They took Ron's trach tube out today around noon. His gastro tube didn't come out until 4:45, and if the nurse hadn't known how to do it and hadn't called the surgeon twice to get permission to take it out herself, it wouldn't have happened today. The surgeon wanted them to take Ron to his office to get it out!
Anyway, he is finally tubeless!! :) He's hoping to be discharged tomorrow afternoon...
I'll write more tomorrow.
Thank you, everyone for all the prayers, help, cards, messages, and support.
Love,
EJ
Anyway, he is finally tubeless!! :) He's hoping to be discharged tomorrow afternoon...
I'll write more tomorrow.
Thank you, everyone for all the prayers, help, cards, messages, and support.
Love,
EJ
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Ron is doing much better. Dr. Tita had the respiratory therapists change his trach down to a size 4 on Sunday. He hopes to remove the trach on Wednesday morning, and possibly the gastro tube, too. They are all trying to help Ron meet his goal to go home on Thursday, so he can watch The Masters at home.
Ron was telling the nurses how he missed his dog, Allie, and they said he could have me bring her up on Sunday. So after late church and lunch with Marge, Charlie, Laura, and her boyfriend Matt, I gave Allie a bath and took her up to visit Ron for the afternoon and evening. He was so happy to see her! (and she to see him!) She was very good, but was very worried about Ron when "strange people" with masks, gloves, and isolation gowns, were over him changing his trach, and he was coughing terribly. She whined and yipped when I wouldn't let her go over to him. Afterward, she was relieved (tail wagging) to find that he was OK!
They have stopped the moist air and lung treatments, so he is not coughing nearly as much. The smaller trach tube is more comfortable, too. Sunday night they did not have him on the vent at all; he was just on O2 all night, and slept very well.
Monday they had his O2 on only 1 to 1.5, and he did great. They took him to the gym while his mom and Charlie were there. He walked there and back, pushing the wheelchair!
When Tammy, Dr. Tita's Nurse Practitioner, came in to see him on Monday, she said he would probably have to go home with oxygen. She also said a year or two down the road, he may still need to have the top portion of his right lung removed. He still has the bullae (what Dr. Tita called pneumatocoeles) that may burst and cause trouble. The alveole (lung tissues like little clusters of grapes where the oxygen exchange takes place) have coelesced into one lump of scar tissue (like an orange). He will never have the use of that part of the lung, and will need to have regular x-rays to keep watching it. His left lung has taken over much of the work, apparently, since his O2 saturation levels are staying up at 96%.
Today, Tuesday, Dr. Tita was in, and they took him off the oxygen completely. They also took out his pic line. He is finally not connected to ANYTHING! Wahoo!!
His blood pressure was very low 80's/60's!! I think it is because they gave him Benedryl the last 2 nights to help him sleep, and he got dehydrated... plus he was still on Cardizem and Lopressor! So they didn't give him any blood pressure medicine today, and had him drink, drink, and drink, water, juice, and pop all day. They kept checking his bp every 2 hours. Finally at 3:00 it was up to 108/66, so they let him get up to take a shower. They took the bandage off the hole on his side where they took the chest tube out last Monday. It looks pretty good.
He pushed the wheelchair down to the gym and back again today, and did well with no oxygen. He had to take a couple breaks between beachball-volleyball and underhand-pitching-velcro-balls exercises, but his O2 saturation only dropped to the mid-80's when she checked it on the portable monitor, and came back up to 97% quickly, when he rested.
One of his respiratory therapists, Margo, said her husband and daughter are at The Masters this week, so in honor of Ron's goal, she is having them bring him back a hat. Alan (Allen?), a friend of Andrew and Jenny's from CMC, also gave Ron a divot tool, ball marker, and sleeve of Pro-V1 balls with The Masters' logo! Ron and Andrew played with him in the golf league at Riverby one year. Wow, how nice! :)
His blood pressure was still down tonight - 94/65, but we asked the nurse not to give him Benedryl tonight. Hopefully, he won't need anything to help him sleep, but if he does, she said she could give him Atavan or Xanax instead. They have to stick to what is on his doctor-approved drug list. (He'll probably be up peeing all night after drinking all the liquids all day!)
They are still hoping to have him ready to go home Thursday. The social worker from Regency is setting up to have a home health care nurse check in on him once a day - take bp, temp., and listen to his lungs, etc. They will have his hemoglobin levels checked once a week or so, and he will have to see the pulmonologists regularly. I need to find him a shower chair, and he will have to be sure to use his C-pap machine at night.
Thanks for all the support! Everyone has been so wonderful!
Love,
EJ
Ron was telling the nurses how he missed his dog, Allie, and they said he could have me bring her up on Sunday. So after late church and lunch with Marge, Charlie, Laura, and her boyfriend Matt, I gave Allie a bath and took her up to visit Ron for the afternoon and evening. He was so happy to see her! (and she to see him!) She was very good, but was very worried about Ron when "strange people" with masks, gloves, and isolation gowns, were over him changing his trach, and he was coughing terribly. She whined and yipped when I wouldn't let her go over to him. Afterward, she was relieved (tail wagging) to find that he was OK!
They have stopped the moist air and lung treatments, so he is not coughing nearly as much. The smaller trach tube is more comfortable, too. Sunday night they did not have him on the vent at all; he was just on O2 all night, and slept very well.
Monday they had his O2 on only 1 to 1.5, and he did great. They took him to the gym while his mom and Charlie were there. He walked there and back, pushing the wheelchair!
When Tammy, Dr. Tita's Nurse Practitioner, came in to see him on Monday, she said he would probably have to go home with oxygen. She also said a year or two down the road, he may still need to have the top portion of his right lung removed. He still has the bullae (what Dr. Tita called pneumatocoeles) that may burst and cause trouble. The alveole (lung tissues like little clusters of grapes where the oxygen exchange takes place) have coelesced into one lump of scar tissue (like an orange). He will never have the use of that part of the lung, and will need to have regular x-rays to keep watching it. His left lung has taken over much of the work, apparently, since his O2 saturation levels are staying up at 96%.
Today, Tuesday, Dr. Tita was in, and they took him off the oxygen completely. They also took out his pic line. He is finally not connected to ANYTHING! Wahoo!!
His blood pressure was very low 80's/60's!! I think it is because they gave him Benedryl the last 2 nights to help him sleep, and he got dehydrated... plus he was still on Cardizem and Lopressor! So they didn't give him any blood pressure medicine today, and had him drink, drink, and drink, water, juice, and pop all day. They kept checking his bp every 2 hours. Finally at 3:00 it was up to 108/66, so they let him get up to take a shower. They took the bandage off the hole on his side where they took the chest tube out last Monday. It looks pretty good.
He pushed the wheelchair down to the gym and back again today, and did well with no oxygen. He had to take a couple breaks between beachball-volleyball and underhand-pitching-velcro-balls exercises, but his O2 saturation only dropped to the mid-80's when she checked it on the portable monitor, and came back up to 97% quickly, when he rested.
One of his respiratory therapists, Margo, said her husband and daughter are at The Masters this week, so in honor of Ron's goal, she is having them bring him back a hat. Alan (Allen?), a friend of Andrew and Jenny's from CMC, also gave Ron a divot tool, ball marker, and sleeve of Pro-V1 balls with The Masters' logo! Ron and Andrew played with him in the golf league at Riverby one year. Wow, how nice! :)
His blood pressure was still down tonight - 94/65, but we asked the nurse not to give him Benedryl tonight. Hopefully, he won't need anything to help him sleep, but if he does, she said she could give him Atavan or Xanax instead. They have to stick to what is on his doctor-approved drug list. (He'll probably be up peeing all night after drinking all the liquids all day!)
They are still hoping to have him ready to go home Thursday. The social worker from Regency is setting up to have a home health care nurse check in on him once a day - take bp, temp., and listen to his lungs, etc. They will have his hemoglobin levels checked once a week or so, and he will have to see the pulmonologists regularly. I need to find him a shower chair, and he will have to be sure to use his C-pap machine at night.
Thanks for all the support! Everyone has been so wonderful!
Love,
EJ
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Friday was another good day for Ron. First he got to walk to his room bathroom with an O2 tank and sit down to take a shower. Then visits from Dave D. and Dave M. raised his spirits. Then the occupational therapist had him play "volleyball" with a balloon and move cones around on the floor while bending over. He got a longer O2 tube and was able to walk to the bathroom instead of having to use the urinal and bedpan. He was really excited about that! He's not as restricted to the bed, now, and that freedom is wonderful. They all are trying to help him reach his goal to watch The Masters at home.
The chest x-ray done on Thursday showed that his lungs still have patchy white infiltrates, but look better than they did. They will continue to do x-rays to check on an area of mild hydra-pneumo-thorax (liquid-filled) under his right lung. His hemoglobin count is still low, 7.9, which is even down from the last check at St. V's (8.1). His nurse last night said to check with his pharmacist to see if any of his medications can cause anemia. Maybe it was low before this whole thing started... His doctor said it could take several weeks for it to be normal again after the pneumonia cleared up.
His gastro-tube is another issue. They need it to be in for at least 6 weeks before it can be taken out. It will be exactly 6 weeks on Wednesday. If they take it out then, they will want to watch it for a couple days before they release him. It may keep him in the hospital until Friday which is one day past his goal.
Marge and Charlie, Ron's mom and step-dad, came up to Regency for the Family Meeting with the hospital staff, Andrew, Ron and me. Everyone was very nice, and the nurses, Dietary, RT, OT and PT are all willing to help Ron try to meet his goal. They said he will be going to the "gym" on Monday to work on strength and endurance. He's already working on those this weekend on his own, doing leg lifts and butt lifts, pushing himself up in the bed, and sitting up on the side of the bed.
Monday they also plan to downsize his trach tube to a size 4. Then maybe Wednesday they can take it out. His RT told him it should heal shut in just a few days.
______________________________________________________________________________
Saturday has been another good day. Sorry, I got distracted last night and never got back to finish the update.
Ron said he slept well last night, and then slept most of the morning, too. Yesterday was a pretty busy day, and he never got a nap. He has been walking to the bathroom with just someone there to watch him walk there and back. He has been still doing well with the O2 tube during the day and the humidified air at night. The coughing has not been so bad yesterday and today, and he's been eating very well.
Thanks to everyone for all the prayers, cards, and messages. He's doing so much better, I can actually breathe without having to tell myself to.
Love,
EJ
The chest x-ray done on Thursday showed that his lungs still have patchy white infiltrates, but look better than they did. They will continue to do x-rays to check on an area of mild hydra-pneumo-thorax (liquid-filled) under his right lung. His hemoglobin count is still low, 7.9, which is even down from the last check at St. V's (8.1). His nurse last night said to check with his pharmacist to see if any of his medications can cause anemia. Maybe it was low before this whole thing started... His doctor said it could take several weeks for it to be normal again after the pneumonia cleared up.
His gastro-tube is another issue. They need it to be in for at least 6 weeks before it can be taken out. It will be exactly 6 weeks on Wednesday. If they take it out then, they will want to watch it for a couple days before they release him. It may keep him in the hospital until Friday which is one day past his goal.
Marge and Charlie, Ron's mom and step-dad, came up to Regency for the Family Meeting with the hospital staff, Andrew, Ron and me. Everyone was very nice, and the nurses, Dietary, RT, OT and PT are all willing to help Ron try to meet his goal. They said he will be going to the "gym" on Monday to work on strength and endurance. He's already working on those this weekend on his own, doing leg lifts and butt lifts, pushing himself up in the bed, and sitting up on the side of the bed.
Monday they also plan to downsize his trach tube to a size 4. Then maybe Wednesday they can take it out. His RT told him it should heal shut in just a few days.
______________________________________________________________________________
Saturday has been another good day. Sorry, I got distracted last night and never got back to finish the update.
Ron said he slept well last night, and then slept most of the morning, too. Yesterday was a pretty busy day, and he never got a nap. He has been walking to the bathroom with just someone there to watch him walk there and back. He has been still doing well with the O2 tube during the day and the humidified air at night. The coughing has not been so bad yesterday and today, and he's been eating very well.
Thanks to everyone for all the prayers, cards, and messages. He's doing so much better, I can actually breathe without having to tell myself to.
Love,
EJ
Friday, April 3, 2009
Thursday, April 2
Ron had a very good day today. He was so excited this afternoon when they gave him a voice valve for his trach tube, and he could talk! He got a nose tube for O2, and a temporary cap for the trach. They are going to leave the O2 nasal tube on all night, and tomorrow, Jill, a respiratory therapist, said she would put a regular cap on his trach tube.
His physical therapist today was Mike, who is also a golf pro, and Ron let everyone know about his personal goal to be home in time to watch The Masters on April 9. Dr. Tita's Nurse Practitioner, Tammy, came to see him, and he told her his goal, too. She had them get him up in the chair and had the Occupational Therapist come to evaluate him. Tomorrow morning his aid is going to help him take a shower, and the OT asked me to bring in some "home clothes" (pj pants and T-shirt) for him to work with getting dressed himself. With him being still in isolation, she didn't know whether he can work in their "gym" room. He may just have to do exercises in his room.
He never got a nap today, so he was pretty tired tonight. His mom and step-dad got here this afternoon at about 2:00. We stopped at Andrew and Jenny's for them to meet Hannah and see Lauren, and got to the hospital at about 3:45. Ron was so happy to see them and actually be able to talk with them! They brought a beautiful prayer quilt from their church that was made especially for Ron. Each knot was tied as someone said a prayer for his recovery. They left when his supper came at about 5:15. Andrew and Jenny came from about 6:00 to 7:00, and when I left at 10:00, he was pretty exhausted!
His temp was up slightly this evening, but it might have been just that he was so tired from a pretty big day. I asked for, and his nurse tonight put in for his white count and hemoglobin count to be checked in the morning. They stopped the tube feeding yesterday, and he's eating well. They are giving him the "Enlive" protein-rich apple juice at each meal, too.
Thank you so much for the continued prayers and get-well wishes! Thank you for all the help at school (especially Betsy and Jennifer), for the gas card from Linda G. and Stars and Stripes Team, and for the baskets of goodies from CMC! I can't tell how much it is all appreciated!!
Love,
EJ
Ron had a very good day today. He was so excited this afternoon when they gave him a voice valve for his trach tube, and he could talk! He got a nose tube for O2, and a temporary cap for the trach. They are going to leave the O2 nasal tube on all night, and tomorrow, Jill, a respiratory therapist, said she would put a regular cap on his trach tube.
His physical therapist today was Mike, who is also a golf pro, and Ron let everyone know about his personal goal to be home in time to watch The Masters on April 9. Dr. Tita's Nurse Practitioner, Tammy, came to see him, and he told her his goal, too. She had them get him up in the chair and had the Occupational Therapist come to evaluate him. Tomorrow morning his aid is going to help him take a shower, and the OT asked me to bring in some "home clothes" (pj pants and T-shirt) for him to work with getting dressed himself. With him being still in isolation, she didn't know whether he can work in their "gym" room. He may just have to do exercises in his room.
He never got a nap today, so he was pretty tired tonight. His mom and step-dad got here this afternoon at about 2:00. We stopped at Andrew and Jenny's for them to meet Hannah and see Lauren, and got to the hospital at about 3:45. Ron was so happy to see them and actually be able to talk with them! They brought a beautiful prayer quilt from their church that was made especially for Ron. Each knot was tied as someone said a prayer for his recovery. They left when his supper came at about 5:15. Andrew and Jenny came from about 6:00 to 7:00, and when I left at 10:00, he was pretty exhausted!
His temp was up slightly this evening, but it might have been just that he was so tired from a pretty big day. I asked for, and his nurse tonight put in for his white count and hemoglobin count to be checked in the morning. They stopped the tube feeding yesterday, and he's eating well. They are giving him the "Enlive" protein-rich apple juice at each meal, too.
Thank you so much for the continued prayers and get-well wishes! Thank you for all the help at school (especially Betsy and Jennifer), for the gas card from Linda G. and Stars and Stripes Team, and for the baskets of goodies from CMC! I can't tell how much it is all appreciated!!
Love,
EJ
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