The next chapter ...
For those of you following what's happening with my Dad ...
The Cardiologist was easy to talk to (yay a Dr who can communicate!) and we chatted through the options and agreed the pacemaker is the way to go as Dad's heart now completely misses the fourth beat! The pacemaker is a small disc about 3cm high and wide and about 5mm deep that is inserted under the left collarbone under a local anesthetic. Two wires from the unit are threaded through the veins - one into the top ventricle of the heart and the other into the lower ventricle. It has a battery with an expected 7 year duration and is checked every 6 months using a computer in the specialist's rooms. He immediately rang the ward to put Dad on fasting and planned to do the procedure last night but I asked to see a diagram of it's exact position in relation to the heart and realised that the line that one of the wires was meant to be in is in fact where his PICC line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PICC_line) is! Dad's operation now has to be delayed until the PICC line can be removed and they check that there are no signs of infection. It's now expected to happen in perhaps in two or three days.
I spent a number of hours with Dad again - he's getting more needy to have me there as he can't work out how to use the nurse's call button,TV remote or the phone at all and complains of being ignored at night and getting lonely. It's nice to hear him complaining again but he's such a different level of care to before. As I was leaving I actually caught his Doctor arriving and semi pinned him down to discuss Dad. The results from the cat scan (letting us know the state of the haemorrhage) will be in this afternoon and then we can see if Dad can come home after the pacemaker has been inserted - usually they only keep them in another 24 hours after the procedure - so quite possibly Dad could be home as soon as this weekend.
Dad's back on the saline dressings for his leg ulcer and a new antibiotic as his wound still hadn't quite cleared up on the old drug and dressings. I am yet to hear from the Vascular Surgeon and find out what, if anything, can be done to improve the extremely poor circulation in his leg (he has 75% blockages of the blood vessels).
I did ask him about Dad's mental state - obviously he has much more marked dementia / short term memory loss than before his fever and the Dr admitted admitted that he doubted Dad would be getting much more up to his previous level so he'll need a much higher level of care from me at home. Obviously I won't be able to assess everything till I get him here as he might be able to go to the toilet on his own sometimes but preparing food, turning on the TV, phone calls, washing, tablets, getting him comfortable in bed, dressing, etc will probably all have to be supervised or done for him. I will now need to look into whether I can find someone to be with him (a day respite carer) when I go to teach on a Wednesday afternoon or whether I have to give up my work completely. Choir, fire brigade (although I haven't been for a while) and friends' parties may also become too difficult to attend.
I've just been on the phone to him for the last half an hour as his razor is missing a piece (major drama), the nurse's have been ignoring him (he apparently had a sore back last night), he's lonely, he couldn't turn on the TV, I apparently stuffed his food order up (I'd left the menu for my brother to do when he got there but he ended up not going in as he was unwell), his toe nails are like claws and he wants me to do them (the nurses aren't allowed to) and apparently I'm a bludger for not being there with him right now to keep him company! Well his complaints make him sound more like Dad which is a good thing! I'll be going in to see him again the afternoon / evening for a number of hours and try to solve all the problems again.
Sorry for gushing all my current life on you all ... it's all just a really big change and I just need to share it at the moment. I love you all heaps and really appreciate the hugs and works of concern.
The Cardiologist was easy to talk to (yay a Dr who can communicate!) and we chatted through the options and agreed the pacemaker is the way to go as Dad's heart now completely misses the fourth beat! The pacemaker is a small disc about 3cm high and wide and about 5mm deep that is inserted under the left collarbone under a local anesthetic. Two wires from the unit are threaded through the veins - one into the top ventricle of the heart and the other into the lower ventricle. It has a battery with an expected 7 year duration and is checked every 6 months using a computer in the specialist's rooms. He immediately rang the ward to put Dad on fasting and planned to do the procedure last night but I asked to see a diagram of it's exact position in relation to the heart and realised that the line that one of the wires was meant to be in is in fact where his PICC line (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PICC_line) is! Dad's operation now has to be delayed until the PICC line can be removed and they check that there are no signs of infection. It's now expected to happen in perhaps in two or three days.
I spent a number of hours with Dad again - he's getting more needy to have me there as he can't work out how to use the nurse's call button,TV remote or the phone at all and complains of being ignored at night and getting lonely. It's nice to hear him complaining again but he's such a different level of care to before. As I was leaving I actually caught his Doctor arriving and semi pinned him down to discuss Dad. The results from the cat scan (letting us know the state of the haemorrhage) will be in this afternoon and then we can see if Dad can come home after the pacemaker has been inserted - usually they only keep them in another 24 hours after the procedure - so quite possibly Dad could be home as soon as this weekend.
Dad's back on the saline dressings for his leg ulcer and a new antibiotic as his wound still hadn't quite cleared up on the old drug and dressings. I am yet to hear from the Vascular Surgeon and find out what, if anything, can be done to improve the extremely poor circulation in his leg (he has 75% blockages of the blood vessels).
I did ask him about Dad's mental state - obviously he has much more marked dementia / short term memory loss than before his fever and the Dr admitted admitted that he doubted Dad would be getting much more up to his previous level so he'll need a much higher level of care from me at home. Obviously I won't be able to assess everything till I get him here as he might be able to go to the toilet on his own sometimes but preparing food, turning on the TV, phone calls, washing, tablets, getting him comfortable in bed, dressing, etc will probably all have to be supervised or done for him. I will now need to look into whether I can find someone to be with him (a day respite carer) when I go to teach on a Wednesday afternoon or whether I have to give up my work completely. Choir, fire brigade (although I haven't been for a while) and friends' parties may also become too difficult to attend.
I've just been on the phone to him for the last half an hour as his razor is missing a piece (major drama), the nurse's have been ignoring him (he apparently had a sore back last night), he's lonely, he couldn't turn on the TV, I apparently stuffed his food order up (I'd left the menu for my brother to do when he got there but he ended up not going in as he was unwell), his toe nails are like claws and he wants me to do them (the nurses aren't allowed to) and apparently I'm a bludger for not being there with him right now to keep him company! Well his complaints make him sound more like Dad which is a good thing! I'll be going in to see him again the afternoon / evening for a number of hours and try to solve all the problems again.
Sorry for gushing all my current life on you all ... it's all just a really big change and I just need to share it at the moment. I love you all heaps and really appreciate the hugs and works of concern.