Turning the Corner....
So it seems that the corner has been turned. Last night gramps started declining. His white blood cell count was up and so was his fever. He had really low blood pressure and Joemamma could barely detect a thready pulse. Immediately the ambulance was called to transport gramps to the Tri-City hospital emergency room. It's amazing that something so fast could take such a long long time. It was forever for the ambulance to come and the papers to be prepared. I rode with him in the ambulance, sirens wailing, all the way to the hospital. Every bump hurt and I did my best to hold onto him to keep him from knocking about on the gurney. The EMT loosened up his chest strap so that he could have an easier time breathing. In less than five minutes, we were there at the ER.
In a ballet of hours the ER doctor and nurses installed a central-line IV to give gramps fluids and antibiotics. These made him cold and he was shivering but we couldn't cover him because he had a fever and to cover him would have been to make the fever worse. After still more time he was taken in for an emergency CT scan. At this point it was getting close to 2 in the morning. My mom and grandmother were exhausted from consulting with the doctor about options. It was decided that I would stay behind so that grandpa would have someone there if he woke up while they went back to rest. Before they arrived home, the admissions doctor told me to call them...
According to the CT scan, there are indications that gramps has a perforated bowel. The corner had been turned, for the worse. Since he is so old and his health is so poor, he does not present a good candidate for surgery. If the surgeons take him under for emergency surgery to remove his bowel, odds are less than 1% he would wake up from it. It's also 100% certain he will have complications and more complications post-op. The odds are similarly poor that he will ever heal from this without surgery. The hard decision had to be made over the phone at 2:30 in the morning.
After that was more waiting. Between cleaning, wiping and many other necessary indignities, it wasn't until 4-5ish in the morning before gramps was finally up in his new hospital room. And there I sat with him. Waiting for the morning and grandma and mom to come. Indeed, he's doing his best to fight the infection. But I no longer believe his body is going to let him win. I have indeed been called here to see my grandfather die.
In a ballet of hours the ER doctor and nurses installed a central-line IV to give gramps fluids and antibiotics. These made him cold and he was shivering but we couldn't cover him because he had a fever and to cover him would have been to make the fever worse. After still more time he was taken in for an emergency CT scan. At this point it was getting close to 2 in the morning. My mom and grandmother were exhausted from consulting with the doctor about options. It was decided that I would stay behind so that grandpa would have someone there if he woke up while they went back to rest. Before they arrived home, the admissions doctor told me to call them...
According to the CT scan, there are indications that gramps has a perforated bowel. The corner had been turned, for the worse. Since he is so old and his health is so poor, he does not present a good candidate for surgery. If the surgeons take him under for emergency surgery to remove his bowel, odds are less than 1% he would wake up from it. It's also 100% certain he will have complications and more complications post-op. The odds are similarly poor that he will ever heal from this without surgery. The hard decision had to be made over the phone at 2:30 in the morning.
After that was more waiting. Between cleaning, wiping and many other necessary indignities, it wasn't until 4-5ish in the morning before gramps was finally up in his new hospital room. And there I sat with him. Waiting for the morning and grandma and mom to come. Indeed, he's doing his best to fight the infection. But I no longer believe his body is going to let him win. I have indeed been called here to see my grandfather die.