Another day on Daddy's roller coaster ride!
First I'll start with the good news. Daddy's Kidneys are stabilizing and are working a lot better this morning. His Kidney Doctors' actually said he now has too much fluid on him and they are going to start giving him lasix to reduce his swelling. His legs are so swollen their is no definition between his ankles and his knees. Dad's belly is also very swollen (as if he needed that to be any bigger).
Another good think is that his breathing is slowly getting better. He is still on the Bi-vent, but he is on a very low setting and his Critical Care Doctors' said that they may try taking him off the machine a few times a day, but only for a short period of time. However; it will be a couple days before he's ready for this.
Now for the bad news: Daddy's white cell count is up and they are watching him for more infection. His incision on his chest is still draining a lot. His Doctor removed a couple staples from the chest area to release the pressure and allow to drain. For some reason the blood is pooling in that area and they are now worried that he is getting an infection there. The neck incision is still draining quite a bit too. The Doctor thinks that if we can stop the heparin (blood thinner) the drainage will be greatly reduced in the chest area. However; if they stop the heparin we have to worry about more clotting. So it's a catch 22 situation.
Another issue is that the flap on the inside of his chin where they basically "put him back together" is starting to separate. The Doctor said that he has to stop moving his mouth and trying to talk to us. We have a dry erase board for him to write on, but he still keeps mouthing the words. The Doctor put a brace around his head to try and hold things together.
His regular Doctor and his Critical Care Doctors' have told the family that we need to be prepared for Daddy to be in the ICU at least another 3 + weeks provided there are no other complications. They have also said that he's loosing muscle everyday he is laying in the bed and that he will need to go into some sort of physical therapy facility. There is one at the old Community Hospital or he'll have to go into a nursing home with a good physical therapy department. This information has hit Mom very, very hard as you can imagine. She's trying her best to be strong, but we can tell that it's starting to take a toll on her.
I will update again after his Doctors see him this evening.
3 comments:
So sorry for all the setbacks. THis was very serious surgery at best and complications do arise but that does not make it any easier on Roy or you all. We pray continuously for all of you to make it thru this ordeal. Just feel that since Roy made the decision to go thru this that the Lord will bring him through it all. Love to all of you, Susan and Bill
Sorry for the up & down roller coaster. The good lord has his reasons for putting Roy, Doris and all of you through this although we can never figure out why. Tell Roy to stop trying to talk now, he will have plenty of time later for that. We will continue to keep all of you --especially Roy --- in our prayers & he can catch up on Lodge work & Skeet later.
Randy & Brenda
I am also sorry for the ups & downs. Tell LeRoy that when he gets up to it, we will give him plenty to time to talk or should I say teach. Doris and the Family, I am leaving for vacation Sat and will be out of town for a week, but will check the Blog daily for good news. We will continue to pray for LeRoy and the family for speedy recovery. Tell LeRoy to hang in there, I need him, I am getting rusty on my words.
David Layman
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