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Nov. 24th, 2003 02:04 pmLord, what a roller coaster we've been on for the last 24 hours.
Michael's dad had a rough time all day yesterday - he seemed to be in more pain, and more discouraged. They took his chest tube out in the morning, which was a painful procedure, and after that he just seemed worn out. The evening visit was when things got really bad, though.
He was nauseous at dinner time, and they gave him some Phenergan. Shortly afterward, he started saying things that didn't make any sense - sort of the way people sound when they talk in their sleep, muttering things with no connection to reality. He became agitated, nervously licking his lips and working his mouth, complaining about something we couldn't understand. Then he started seeing things. He pulled at his wires, urgently trying to tell us about something imaginary that needed to be fixed or changed. He could be reassured for a minute or two, but then he'd be off again. Eventually he started trying to get out of bed, and it was all we could do to keep him in it until the nurse got there.
He thought he was at home, and he was trying to get to the bathroom. The nurses got him up and onto a commode, and when they got him back to bed he was a lot calmer - but he still didn't know where he was. He reacted strongly to any noises out in the hallway, and given that it was shift change time there were a lot of them.
The nurses said his wife could spend the night, so we sent her out for a while to rest while we stayed by his side. It was much easier to calm and reassure him by this point. When his wife came back in, Michael and I went to get some dinner. By the time we returned, an hour later, he was calm and seemed to mostly know where he was.
This morning he was fine. He unfortunately remembers everything that happened last night - I'd been hoping he wouldn't - and is feeling kind of scared and, I think, ashamed about that. He's also tending towards post-surgical depression, and talking about dying. But he continues to progress well physically. While we were with him in the ICU this morning, he pulled himself up to sit on the edge of the bed with just a little help from Michael. At lunchtime, they moved him into a regular room. I think that will help a lot. They're talking about sending him home Wednesday if things continue to go well.
Last night was just awful. It's a real relief to find him so much better today. Michael's been a hero about all of this, but I know it's really been hard on him.
This afternoon we're going over to the Mid-South Blood Center to donate blood in Papa's name, given that he's now had two transfusions and may possibly need another. There's some sort of system where he gets credited for the blood we donate rather than having to pay for the blood he received, but I think we both see it as more of a moral obligation to give blood now.
We've also picked up a card for the ICU nurses. They've been uniformly wonderful, and I know that's made a huge difference.
Michael's dad had a rough time all day yesterday - he seemed to be in more pain, and more discouraged. They took his chest tube out in the morning, which was a painful procedure, and after that he just seemed worn out. The evening visit was when things got really bad, though.
He was nauseous at dinner time, and they gave him some Phenergan. Shortly afterward, he started saying things that didn't make any sense - sort of the way people sound when they talk in their sleep, muttering things with no connection to reality. He became agitated, nervously licking his lips and working his mouth, complaining about something we couldn't understand. Then he started seeing things. He pulled at his wires, urgently trying to tell us about something imaginary that needed to be fixed or changed. He could be reassured for a minute or two, but then he'd be off again. Eventually he started trying to get out of bed, and it was all we could do to keep him in it until the nurse got there.
He thought he was at home, and he was trying to get to the bathroom. The nurses got him up and onto a commode, and when they got him back to bed he was a lot calmer - but he still didn't know where he was. He reacted strongly to any noises out in the hallway, and given that it was shift change time there were a lot of them.
The nurses said his wife could spend the night, so we sent her out for a while to rest while we stayed by his side. It was much easier to calm and reassure him by this point. When his wife came back in, Michael and I went to get some dinner. By the time we returned, an hour later, he was calm and seemed to mostly know where he was.
This morning he was fine. He unfortunately remembers everything that happened last night - I'd been hoping he wouldn't - and is feeling kind of scared and, I think, ashamed about that. He's also tending towards post-surgical depression, and talking about dying. But he continues to progress well physically. While we were with him in the ICU this morning, he pulled himself up to sit on the edge of the bed with just a little help from Michael. At lunchtime, they moved him into a regular room. I think that will help a lot. They're talking about sending him home Wednesday if things continue to go well.
Last night was just awful. It's a real relief to find him so much better today. Michael's been a hero about all of this, but I know it's really been hard on him.
This afternoon we're going over to the Mid-South Blood Center to donate blood in Papa's name, given that he's now had two transfusions and may possibly need another. There's some sort of system where he gets credited for the blood we donate rather than having to pay for the blood he received, but I think we both see it as more of a moral obligation to give blood now.
We've also picked up a card for the ICU nurses. They've been uniformly wonderful, and I know that's made a huge difference.
