Prayers, Positive Energy Waves... Whatever you've got... PLEASE send it our way!
My father was lifeflighted to West Penn hospital in Pittsburgh Saturday morning, after a long night in a local hospital triage, for a severe case of pneumonia. There they discovered he also has the flu and a case of acute respiratory disease... basically a bad respiratory infection that can cause RDS... or respiratory distress syndrome.
My father has been quite ill for some time now... and has been on constant oxygen for just over a month now. These complications severely compromise his oxygen levels... and to keep him stabalized, he has been admitted into ICU under 'isolation' and has been fully sedated with a breathing tube. He will likely remain 'under' for at least the next 3-4 days, as they closely monitor him, administer IV antibiotics and try to encourage the strength of his lungs to return, so they can wake him and remove the artificial ventilation. Upon admittance... he had only a baseball sized portion of each lung functioning. =(
We could use all of the prayers and support we can get right now. Please pray for my father's recovery and my poor distraught mother. She is absolutely beside herself right now and not well in health either.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
(An excerpt from a blog... the most current and personal update available at this time.)
We went to Pittsburgh yesterday. My mother had been in the same clothes since Friday, and my sister, who is insulin dependent and wears an insulin pump, needed supplies... so we made the trip through the fog and rain. It ended up being a LONG day.
The drive which usually takes around 2.5 hours... 3, with my kids... took us much longer. Finnley ended up getting sick and vomitting all over the car about half way there... which in turn made me sick... another half hour stripping him, cleaning the car out... and then riding the rest of the way in a stinky vehicle... only to narrowly miss a dear about 10 miles down the road. Then much of the way there and home... we literally had to inch our way. But I'm glad we made the trip.
We got my mom to leave the hospital for a time... we checked her into a 'Family Home' and got her to unpack some stuff and visit with the kids for a short while. I could not get her to eat. I am very worried about her.
My sister said she did not sleep at all on Friday night, just sat up all night starring... she was up all day on Saturday and would not eat. She said she barely slept on Saturday night and ate only once on Sunday. A half of a sandwich. I wish we could have stayed with her... it just isn't feasable right now. My sister is doing a good job with her... but I can tell she needs me.
I had set in my mind... for my parents at least that I would go back to see my dad, if they would allow me... but once there... with Finnley having thrown up in the car... I was concerned I was carrying a bug of some sorts. I told my mom, but she had said she had already told my dad I was coming to see him... so I scrubbed in thoroughly. It was very difficult to do though.
An update on his condition...
He's isolated... and you cannot even get into his room without scrubbing up, gowning, masking, gloves... the works. I spoke with a nurse (that literally sits outside his door at all times,) to get an update on his condition. Please keep praying. As of now... the xrays of his lungs have not changed at all. Definitely have not improved. He is running a fever, despite the IV fluids (which generally will cool your body interally) and they are waiting for new cultures because he is not responding to antibiotics and they are not sure how to treat him right now. They gave him one tube feeding yesterday... which they said he tolerated, however they have now completely restrained him, under sedation, to ensure there is no way he is going to hurt himself. I guess they do not want him to be entirely non responsive... but if the comes out of it enough... he panicks every time and tries to pull his tubes and wires. They said it may be another 48 hours until they even have an idea of what his prognosis might be... as it will take that long to get back all the cultures and determine a better way to treat his sickness... but all the nurse could tell me was "It isn't good... he is a very sick man." And he said that the longer he is on the ventilation... the harder it will be to determine if he will be coming back off. His lungs are so weak, he said that they'd prefer to have him breathing on his own in 3-4 days from the initial intubation... but it is taking a lot longer to get him to respond to medications than they had hoped (already 2 days with no change at all) and they have had to start administering blood pressure medication to keep his blood pressure from dropping. At this point they have prepared my mother for the fact that they do not plan to intubate him longer than 2 weeks (well they would... but at that point he most likely would not recover)... and if they cannot have him off in less time than that... that there is a possibility when they remove the tube, he'll go into respiratory distress, as his lungs will not be able to compensate for the gas exchange and capacitate an efficient level of oxygen on their own. The sooner they can get him to respond to medications... and get him off the ventilator... the better his chances of recovery and survival at this point. She is obviously not prepared for this... and not handling it well. Just... please pray hard.
It is a very sad sight. Just so sad. They told us that he is responsive to commands, even in his sedated state and that he had let them know with a nod that he was comfortable earlier that evening. We couldn't get a response from him.
I stood and told him about our adventures in getting there, about the kids... some of what I said at least made my mom laugh a little bit. That was reassuring. I let him know we were taking care of my mom and that we loved him and everyone I could possibly reach was praying for his health and strength to return. But also for my mom.
This is so hard. I know if he doesn't recover... There is a good chance I will be losing both of my parents. It is just so sudden. You hear tale of couples who are so dependent on each other physically, mentally and emotionally that they epitomize the marital concept of 'one.' They cannot be separated... and if one passes... the other soon follows. That is my parents. And my mother has always been the one far more sick than my father. He's only recently and somewhat unexpectedly become so ill. My mother has hydrocephalus, takes medications now to keep her bladder functioning, so it does not back up into her kidneys, gets coritsone shots in her spine to be able to keep walking, and is almost entirely deaf. On top of that, they recently found a mass on her thyroid that they determined is not cancerous... however it is pressing on her trachea and they are not sure how to remove it, because due to her health condition... she cannot be put under for surgery. I think... if my dad does not come home with her this time... she is not going to have the strength to keep fighting all of this. Plus... now she is already so worried, she is not taking care of herself at all. Pray... pray hard for my mother.
My sister is going to come home from Pittsburgh on Thursday and have my aunt go stay with my mother, so that we can turn my parent's sunroom downstairs into a bedroom for them. That way, my dad wouldn't have to go up and down stairs at all... nor would my mother (which is not good for her either.) In the meantime here... we are turning the nursery room into a room for my mother... so in the event that, God forbid, my dad should not recover... my mother can come straight here. There is no way she can go back to that house without him. Our alternative, if my dad returns to their house... is to then prepare our dining room (which sits at the back of the house... with outside access and an adjoined bathroom) into a room for them to stay in... rather than being alone. We also live only blocks from the hospital. There are going to be a lot of changes soon.
I have a lot of work to do. And this is all so hard right now, with me becoming increasingly pregnant... but I am also being conscious of my limitations and taking time to care for myself and my family as well... so please do not worry about me. Sean has been an absolute rock for me through this too. I don't know what I would do without him here.
As I am updated... if things change at all... I'll will be sure to let you know.
My father's name is David... if you care to put him on prayer chains. My mother is Kathleen.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers... if any, at this time.