With dad in the hospital... UPDATE... (post 20) going back.

I hope your dad gets better soon! I know how tough that can be. Hope he's home soon.

I'll send you prayers, but not till about bed time.  Meanwhile, I know how hard it is to have a father who is not well.  I hope your dad feels better.
 
Keep the faith, keep your head up
 
Cheers

:-)
 

It's rough. I went through it with my dad and then my mom. She went to the hospital every six months to  "dry out" but lasted several years with the congestive heart failure. It's hard to be the good son, but years from now you'll be happy you did what you could.
 
All the best.

mojo is on the way J.

Just sent some prayer your way.

Well, youngster I hope you do better sleeping in that chair. Hope your dad does okay also.
 

 
 

Thanks  thanks thanks... still sitting here. He is still the same. I think treatment will keep him going for a while. I know that mom would be completely lost without him.
 
BTW, I think a hospital is sort of like a "low rent" five star hotel... they give you whatever you ask for (except morphine... I asked) but what they give you is is all rather, well... cheap but I am glad they are here. The staff is great.
 
J

Get as much rest as you can Julien!

I hope he's able to come home soon and I hope you're able to get some rest as well.  I'm praying for you and your family. 

Well, we got there Friday afternoon. They had done an echo cardiogram on Friday morning. The regular doctor didn't have any word on it yet because the cardiologist had not yet read it. Saturday he told us that the cardiologist would read it Monday morning but he, the regular doctor, did not think that he had pneumonia but that he had/has congestive heart failure. So they treated with antobiotics and lasix. Sunday they realized that they were giving him too much lasix and his kidney function was not right so they were trying to re-hydrate. The cardiologist did not show up on Monday. We tracked him down and called his office. His office said there was no order from the other doctor, they didn't have it on any schedule. We called the nurses station where dad is and they said it was a "computer gitch" other words for no one entered the order, I think. They said it was fixed...
So the cardiologist showed up this morning... finally and said he has a spot on a heart valve that he thinks is infection and that he does not think dad has congestive heart failure but rather that he has asperated pneumonia. Good greif... so he referred to an infectious diseases doctor who is supossed to be there this afternoon.
Now, after laying in a bed since Thursday Dad can not walk, well just barely with a walker and not far. He is not eating well today again, they said he ate a little better yesterday. He really wants to go home. They are bringing my mom over to spend as much of the day with him as she can.
This hospital has had a reputation for years of not being so good but there was really no alternative. His doctor works between there and a better hospital in Albany, GA. The cardiologist is supossed to by OK. I hope the ID doctor is good and this gets sorted out. We are going back either this evening or tomorrow morning, carrying a suit just in case.
I know what I want but I don't know all things. I pray that God will give the doctors eyes to see and knowledge to know... and that dad will recover so he can be there for my mom, with her dementia she really depends on him. She never knows what she wants about anything, she always asks (like at the table), "what is he having", and that is what she will have. I hope he recovers for her sake but if not we will do whatever we have to do.
At this point I just want someone to figure out what is wrong with him so they can give him the proper treatment before they kill him trying to treat something else.
This hospital actually lost my wife's grand father. He got jaundice. Went to the hospital, they took him from the room for something and he never came back. Finally someone asked about him and they realized that they did not know where he was. We found him in a room in the maternity ward. He was in a bed with an IV, the IV was empty and blood had backed up from his arm into the bottle.... luckily, that didn't change things. He was sick beyond repair, but it surely didn't help.
Ray Goff's dad, Jim Buck Goff went in there maybe 20 years ago with something that should not have been fatal and he died in there.
I wish we had an alternative but at this point we really dont... unless the ID doctor wants him moved.
I think this all started a few weeks ago when he had a small skin cancer cut off an ear. The doctor said that he bled a little when they removed the stitches and suspects that he got an infection at that point. The infection he found surprised him because it is usually found only in diabetics but mom and both his caretakers, my sister and her daughter are diabetic. We now have "Comfort Keepers" coming in on weekends and Bethany's Hospice is supossed to re-evaluate him as soon as he gets back home, if he does.
Well, that is pretty much all I know. We will be heading back down there either this evening or tomorrow AM. Putting work on hold. I have someone to work wh will get most everything done and Cindy has someone who can keep things running at her office but not fulltime.. it will work out though.
When I was young life was really easy, it was still fairly easy married with kids, as a grand parent it has gotten much harder... more to do than ever and less energy than ever... does it ever get any esier again?? I see commercials on TV of "retired" people and I wonder. I don't think I will ever be able to retire. I think retirement has become exclusive to members of big unions and government employees. Regular people who start and run small businesses get nothing but taken advantage of. I fully expect to have to work for the rest of my life even though I am 100% disabled. I can still make 12,000 a year and will be on medicare in 6 months (early because of disability)... the future is uncertain anymore... but I digress.
Please keep dad in your thoughts or prayers. If you don't believe in prayer, I am not asking you to... just a thought or mojo or whatever you have will be appreciated... and I appreciate you all. Sometimes I feel like my online friends are the only friends I really have. I am too busy for real friends. It is just you and my wife.
 
Well thanks,
 
Julien

Will be praying for your Dad Julien...

I went through that also...haven't been the same since...
 
Praying for the best!

You seem to be doing remarkably well at handling a bad situation.  My prayers and best wishes continue.  

Old55
You seem to be doing remarkably well at handling a bad situation.  My prayers and best wishes continue.  

Well Jan. There is nothing else I can do but accept life as it comes... but thank you. I appreciate that. Sometimes we can only agree with Job and say, "The Lord gives and The Lord takes away, blessed be the name of The lord". I think that I can do that or I can become bitter or feel guilt of some sort or allow some other problem into my life. I think agreement with Mr. Job is much better. These things are pretty much out of our control.
Thanks!
 
J

Thanks Beep... I wish I could be there now, he was asking where I am. I would call but he can't understand me on the phone. He has known something was coming, he asked my wife to set up financial pwer of attorney over him and mom. We got that done last month, he knows that she will take care of them... or mom. It made my sister mad but she is incompetent. My wife is a CPA and a financial wizard... she also has to do everything that involves getting anything done about anything...
I think everything will resolve itself very soon. He will either get the right diagnosis and be on the mend or he will pass away within a week... I think.
 
Better days:

Sorry to hear that, my friend. Best wishes to you and your father.