my son Noah waiting outside of Cracker Barrel restaurant....when he was 3-4 years old. He just turned 10 yesterday.
I wish I had time to jump in the car and drive to an open area to capture better shots. I happened to look outside my back window when I was talking on the phone and saw the sky lit up with the most amazing colors...I knew it would be a gorgeous sunset. We have had a couple of these the last few days..they are spectacular to watch but they go very fast...changing in colors before disappearing altogether over the horizon or behind clouds. These are not ideal shots as I snapped them through my window....but this gives you an idea of what I saw.....
Dad got moved to a new room today. He had a couple of visitors and some phone calls.
They did NOT remove the chest tube. The doctor wants to do that in the morning.
Hopefully it will go well.
That is all I know for tonight.
and he seemed in good spirits. He was very surprised to see me and my son Noah as he did not think anyone would be down to see him because of pending possible bad weather. BUT when it looked like there was not going to be any bad weather we decided to head on down for a visit. He was very talkative....and was happy the second TALC procedure had been performed before he had time to think about it and it was over with. He does not know for sure but is hoping they remove his chest tube tomorrow and maybe......MAYBE if that is successful....maybe he might come home later this week.
Of course when I asked him if the DOCTOR TOLD HIM THIS.....he said NO. It was HIM hoping that would be how things would pan out.
So considering all he has been through he seemed more like himself.
Well dad called mom and said "you're not going to believe this but they did that TALC procedure already." Mom thought he meant the surgical one....and he said NO. Apparently though they gave him options the surgeon just does NOT want to perform that surgery on dad. SO they did the same procedure they did about 2 weeks ago where they go in and blow that stuff directly into his lung via the tubes I think already there.
He told Mom it did not hurt near as bad this time as before....and I am sure that is because he had some of that stuff in there already and some had also caused scar tissue to form which would probably dull the pain from the TALC this time.
I told Mom they should ASK the surgeon WHY he is so adamant about NOT performing the other type of surgery.....and make him give a reason. MAYBE he did with Dad this morning.....I have not yet talked with Dad so I don't know for sure. Maybe the surgeon does not think Dad could tolerate the surgery? I do know he has said even WITH the surgery there would be NO guarantee this could happen again.
So perhaps he figures if there is no guarantee anyway....a double dose of that sticky stuff might do the trick just as well and be less invasive and stressful on the body for Dad.
That is the latest as we know it now. AND now for your viewing pleasure.....a couple of shots of ornaments from my Christmas tree....
The tree stands so tall I cannot get up there to put our lighted star at the top as I have no ladder...and I have not hung any icicles or tinsel yet...I try to make a very old-fashioned children's type tree....
aglow at night......
I could not believe it. Today was a bad day for him.....I called my mom and was talking to her to tell her I was going to bring her mom (my grandma) and son over tomorrow to see dad.....and she said it may not be a good time. She said that dad had a bad day......was having a hard time breathing again and had a bad cough. He had just been to the doctor on Wednesday and they said his lungs were clear.....sounded good....etc.
Today they called the home health nurse and she came out and she said his lungs sounded okay too.....and his oxygen saturations were good....but when I talked to mom and then dad......there is NO WAY his lungs could be clear or his saturations okay. I asked him what his saturations were......and this is WITH oxygen...and they were only about 90 to 92%. That is not great especially if you have oxygen....and he had a coughing spell and it sounded like his lungs/chest was full of crap....I mean it was nasty sounding......worse than I have heard and I have worked in a pulmonary clinic with kids with cystic fibrosis!
Dad was not able to get up most of the day to do anything......could no longer make it to the bathroom or really even stand up without becoming very breathless......and almost falling down.
I told dad that I thought he should not wait around.....I asked him how long he wanted to go on like that? That I knew he did not want to go to the hospital again but I felt he SHOULD go...as they could make him more comfortable......breathe easier......and give him a breathing treatment if needed which I felt he needed....increase his oxygen which I felt he also needed......and they could make sure nothing was wrong inside his chest.....as it sounded to me like he might have fluid building up. We all could not imagine his lung could possibly have collapsed again.
Mom at first I think just thought dad was anxious and panicky a bit....and that was making his breathing worse. Which it would....but after I talked to him I told her that he did not sound panicky to me....he sounded like he just could not get air in and his lungs were full of crap. I told her too that I thought he should go to the hospital ....and I told dad that numerous times.
She finally decided to call the after hours and home health nurse and I told her they would all tell her to call 911 if he was at that point...and have him be taken back to the hospital.
So she did.....they took him...mom just called.......and guess what? HIS LUNG HAS COLLAPSED AGAIN!!!!!!!! THE SAME ONE......and now they are faced with all the crap I wanted them to PRESS those doctors for answers on......WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO NOW? THEY told dad originally they would NOT put another chest tube in.....but that is what they are doing right now. They also said they would not operate....but this being the THIRD TIME that lung has collapsed....I BET they will HAVE to do surgery now.....to either resect the bad portion off or remove that lung entirely. How well he will do then will depend a lot on the remaining lung and the condition it is in.
SO dad will be sedated for the chest tube....and in the hospital probably this time for awhile.....and maybe over another holiday? NOT sure yet about that or what will happen but ANY AND ALL prayers are appreciated!
I till try to keep everyone updated or my mom will on dad's blog or her blog.....
I wanted to go see him yesterday afternoon since it was Thanksgiving and I wanted to surprise him as I knew he figured no one would show up to see him as it was a holiday..etc. My son and I and my one sister and her daughter drove down to surprise him. When we walked in the room this is what we saw:
I said "OH I have GOT to get a picture of this!" to which dad responded when I told him I brought my cameras "GOOD! I figured that will likely be the ONLY way a picture of me gets online!" He wanted to share this with everyone......and I sent them to mom to post...but she may not have time. SO I decided to post them here. That THING on his head is something new where they WASH your hair by placing it on your head....it gets hot....there is some moisture in there too or maybe the heat creates steam? It washes the hair ......I thought that was a pretty amazing thing.
Dad still has the chest tube in...and about 3 IV's in his arms.......a catheter still in place too....he is hooked up to so many tubes and gadgets he could never move too far. BUT when we got there....he was sitting up in the chair for the first time....and had already been in the chair for about 2-1/2 hours. He has been having problems with his heart rhythm and it beating too fast so they have him on IV drips for that. AND give him medicine to help prevent blood clots......
He seemed in good spirits but I thought his skin was looking a little yellow on his arms and parts of his face. He was very excited and happy I think to have someone come visit him. He said to me he was starting to wonder "gee does nobody love me?" I told him we were THANKFUL he was still here......on this Thanksgiving day....and I bet he never thought he would be in the hospital on Thanksgiving!
We had a nice talk......but dad let us know that his lungs are pretty much SHOT. He said the surgeon told him that they are pretty sure his lung will do this again one day.....and if so.....they do not know what they would do....but that they would NOT put in another chest tube....and the one surgeon said he would NOT operate on dad because of how bad his lungs are and because of his heart issues he has or has had in the past. The combination of heart issues and emphysema and asthma, etc. has not done his lungs any good. It has all taken a toll.
I am not sure what that means. I need to talk to one of the doctors and ask some serious questions. I told mom to ask some today and her and dad BOTH to ask questions...like what does that mean for me if it does happen again? WHAT are my options? I think they are hopeful this sealant they sprayed in dad's lung will help create a strong barrier....so if another bleb bursts......that seal would not allow his lung to collapse again. This is basically the same sort of repair they would do on the outside of the lung if they had operated....they resect away the bad portions and place a patch over the hole. Much like a flat tire with a hole in it. You can patch on the outside or inside.....dad's lung was patched on the inside with that sealant.
That "sticky stuff" as it has come to be known basically BURNS the lining of your lung.....which causes scar tissue to form. That creates the barrier.
The doctor told dad his lung was NOT reinflating to the capacity it should....and they did not know why...but maybe because he was not doing much but lying around. So they wanted to get him up to sit in the chair to allow the lung to drain. And drain it was! There was all sorts of bloody liquid coming out of that tube!
Pretty soon the SHAMPOO head-dress came off and dad started to look a lot better:
So at this point we are not sure what is going to happen. Dad thinks they may try to remove his chest tube TODAY (Friday November 28) but he is not positive. AND no one seems to know for sure what will happen if they remove the tube. Mom is exhausted. Mom is so tired she almost fell asleep at the dinner table yesterday. Dad is worried about her too.
I have to admit us kids did not know any of this until we went to see dad at the hospital because Mom had not yet mentioned this to us. I don't think we realized just how BAD his lungs might be and the fact that the surgeon told Dad outright that he would not want to do surgery on Dad.
Hopefully we will find out more today....
Mom will probably still try to keep everyone updated on Dad's blogs and her blog.....but if not.....you can check here as I will try to keep everyone updated too.
Please continue to say prayers for Dad if you are inclined. ANY would be appreciated. I told Dad about everyone giving him well wishes and leaving comments. He said to post these pics of him as it would probably REALLY bring the comments in! That sounds like Dad.
I had some leftover turkey that I needed to use up so I decided to find a recipe for homemade turkey pot pie and make one today. This recipe is soooooo delicious and all made from scratch so I wanted to share it now BEFORE Thanksgiving and leftover time!
this hawk has been showing up in my backyard and sits on the fence.....waiting for a bird to come out of the bushes to eat the seed I put out...and then he grabs one and has his own meal...
