Gasping for air

Much has transpired since the last post three days ago; enough worthy of an update. High hopes of a chest tube resolution to the empyema problem were reset. You can read more about that here. Dad’s doctors concluded that a more agressive approach was appropriate since the chest tube was not removing enough of the thick fluid build up. In typical fashion, the doctor who performed Dad’s double lobectomy scheduled surgery for the next open slot and off they went. The goal here was to physically open Dad up and scrape / flush all of the built up fluid and pus from the pleural cavity around the remaining lobe in his right lung. Procedurally this went well, but Dad was not breathing on his own enough to be woken up and to remove the tube that allowed the doctors to breathe for him. As such, Dad was transferred to the ICU heavily medicated, intubated, and on a ventilator. 

The staff has been mostly wonderful, save a few lame ducks; one of whom may no longer be working at Banner Thunderbird based on the atrocious actions I notified management of, but thats a story for another time.  Fast forward now to Dad being monitored in the ICU. With all the best intentions, under the care of a nurse we like, Dad’s medication dose was slowly lowered to begin allowing him to wake up. Unfortunately Dad woke up much more quickly than expected. Now imagine waking up in quite a daze, in a completely different place than you last remember with extra wires and IV’s, tubes coming out the side of your chest, and a large tube down your throat. What might be your first inclination? Yup – Dad grabbed the tube that was in his mouth and yanked it out. For those who may be unfamiliar, these endotracheal tubes have a neat little balloon style “cuff” at the end of them. After they are inserted, the cuff is inflated with about 10cc of air and it secures the airway so there is no chance of fluids or anything else being aspirated into the lungs. 

During a normal extubation, when they remove this breathing tube, the cuff is deflated first… Dad is complaining of a sore throat… Doctors say no damage was done, and apparently he is ready to breathe on his own. Needless to say, Dad had the nurse deflate the cuff on the foley catheter before removing that one 😉

Today was day 72 away from home. Bed sores are a constant battle, as is weight managment. All I can say is that I am thankful for the feeding tube. Moments of anxiety creep in, especially when Dad’s breathing becomes difficult. I wish I could trade places with him for a while – this guy really needs a break. We are looking into some home nursing care with a physical therapy rehab component with the hopes that he can somehow get home without going back to Health South. The facility is great, but Dad will be approaching 3 full months away from home by the time we anticipate his release barring any other setbacks. 

All this, and we must be right around the corner from getting past the worst of it right? Well we haven’t addressed the cancer issue for 3 full months, which is what started this whole spiral back in July. So what is next to come? Laughter. Games. Family time. We are taking a vacation from the hospital life. I don’t know how long it will last, or even if the plan will work (or even who all is on board with the plan). I am committed though. As mentioned previously, Dad will be home for his birthday on April 2nd. Period. He is going to gain weight and get stronger. He is going to play with his grandkids (3 of them now!). We are going to have big Sunday family dinners. We are going to overcome this damn thing with sheer willpower. 

That’s all for now, just keeping everyone up to date.

Hope and Love,

Richard