Update on Tony
June 2 2009:
Well, Tony finally got moved to Drake yesterday. The transition was smooth and all was well...yesterday. Today he's not doing so hot. He's produced a new fever. His lungs have a whole lot of secretion. He keeps bringing up these giant loogies, but white, not yellow, which is good. On the first one, I didn't know how to work the sucky thingy yet, so I grabbed a paper towel and pulled the loogie out of his mouth. It took all I had not to puke all over him. My stomach flipped for at least an hour!
Then the nurse showed me how to work the sucky thingy, and that's how I spent the next several hours...wiping his forehead and sucking loogies out of his mouth. Then the respiratory therapist came in, took the sucky thingy out of my hand, looked at Tony and told him to see if he could swallow the stuff. He explained that Tony needs to manage his own secretions if he's going to get rid of the respirator. Seemed harsh, but is very true, so I didn't give in to my urge to tackle and pelt the bastard.
Tony's wounds are all infected. They'll start him on IV antibiotics tomorrow. I wish he already had them flowing.
His wounds are critical, but Drake has the best wound care team in town. They will be treating him daily until they are healed. Here are the wounds we're dealing with:
His incision runs front to back under his right arm, and is about a foot long. It's angry red, has puss, and a drainage tube.
His tracheotomy is infected all around it...red as hell and oozing puddles of puss.
He has a very large 'deep tissue injury' which is almost like a bed sore. It's really bad, and it runs all the way across his back, just above his butt. I watched them turn him constantly at the VA, but he was just laying too long. It couldn't be avoided.
Drake's team of doctors meet every Wednesday, discuss each patient, and outline a goal/plan for the coming week. They took pictures of his wounds today, so they can get their heads together and devise the best and fastest plan to get them healed.
Another critical find is that Tony is unable to move his left arm. He has feeling in it, but can't move it. We're all wondering if he had a stroke at some point, but his mental faculties are all there, so we're just not sure. But then again, when asked what month it is, he did say December. We'll just have to wait and see.
He keeps begging for coffee. That makes me so sad. He just really felt lousy tonight, and I had a very hard time leaving him. But my own fatigue got the best of me and I had to surrender. I've been running hard since 4:30 this morning.
They gave him some pain medicine, and he went to sleep, so I just got home, wolfed down some pizza, am writing this, and heading off to bed. (Great for my health, eh?)
I'll drop Terri off there tomorrow morning, she'll stay all day while I'm at work, then I'll join her at 4:30, we'll stay until around 8:00, then do it all again, until the weekend, when we'll both stay there all day with him. Bless Terri's heart. What a trooper! When I see her getting cranky, I make her stay home a day, but she really wants to be with Tony, so I won't stress her out by keeping her away. The physical therapist is going to let Terri join in on Tony's therapy. That should be CUTE!
Exhausted....luv2All
Kim zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
P.S. His kidneys still are not working. He has to have dialysis M-W-F. I hope that's only temporary.
But all said...he still could be worse. I'm just updating...I'm not being ungrateful for the miracles done so far.
Well, Tony finally got moved to Drake yesterday. The transition was smooth and all was well...yesterday. Today he's not doing so hot. He's produced a new fever. His lungs have a whole lot of secretion. He keeps bringing up these giant loogies, but white, not yellow, which is good. On the first one, I didn't know how to work the sucky thingy yet, so I grabbed a paper towel and pulled the loogie out of his mouth. It took all I had not to puke all over him. My stomach flipped for at least an hour!
Then the nurse showed me how to work the sucky thingy, and that's how I spent the next several hours...wiping his forehead and sucking loogies out of his mouth. Then the respiratory therapist came in, took the sucky thingy out of my hand, looked at Tony and told him to see if he could swallow the stuff. He explained that Tony needs to manage his own secretions if he's going to get rid of the respirator. Seemed harsh, but is very true, so I didn't give in to my urge to tackle and pelt the bastard.
Tony's wounds are all infected. They'll start him on IV antibiotics tomorrow. I wish he already had them flowing.
His wounds are critical, but Drake has the best wound care team in town. They will be treating him daily until they are healed. Here are the wounds we're dealing with:
His incision runs front to back under his right arm, and is about a foot long. It's angry red, has puss, and a drainage tube.
His tracheotomy is infected all around it...red as hell and oozing puddles of puss.
He has a very large 'deep tissue injury' which is almost like a bed sore. It's really bad, and it runs all the way across his back, just above his butt. I watched them turn him constantly at the VA, but he was just laying too long. It couldn't be avoided.
Drake's team of doctors meet every Wednesday, discuss each patient, and outline a goal/plan for the coming week. They took pictures of his wounds today, so they can get their heads together and devise the best and fastest plan to get them healed.
Another critical find is that Tony is unable to move his left arm. He has feeling in it, but can't move it. We're all wondering if he had a stroke at some point, but his mental faculties are all there, so we're just not sure. But then again, when asked what month it is, he did say December. We'll just have to wait and see.
He keeps begging for coffee. That makes me so sad. He just really felt lousy tonight, and I had a very hard time leaving him. But my own fatigue got the best of me and I had to surrender. I've been running hard since 4:30 this morning.
They gave him some pain medicine, and he went to sleep, so I just got home, wolfed down some pizza, am writing this, and heading off to bed. (Great for my health, eh?)
I'll drop Terri off there tomorrow morning, she'll stay all day while I'm at work, then I'll join her at 4:30, we'll stay until around 8:00, then do it all again, until the weekend, when we'll both stay there all day with him. Bless Terri's heart. What a trooper! When I see her getting cranky, I make her stay home a day, but she really wants to be with Tony, so I won't stress her out by keeping her away. The physical therapist is going to let Terri join in on Tony's therapy. That should be CUTE!
Exhausted....luv2All
Kim zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
P.S. His kidneys still are not working. He has to have dialysis M-W-F. I hope that's only temporary.
But all said...he still could be worse. I'm just updating...I'm not being ungrateful for the miracles done so far.