Trevor vists grandpa in the ICU

Trevor came into the room and my dad looked up and recognized him immediately.  He said, "TREVOR" then he said to his nurse, "This is my grandson Trevor, he plays football and is really good!" The nurse then asked Trevor where do you play? He said Snow Canyon and the nurse said, "Wow, we have 2 things in common, my name is Trevor also and I played there. 

This picture just gets me, because it looks like Trevor is just heart broken about Grandpa. I would love to know what he was thinking at this moment in time.  His friend, Navy wanted to come see Grandpa with Trevor because he has come a few times to visit him at the Rehab and other places.

More Precious moments from the I C U

 Aunty Almira got there from Hawaii.  My dad was sooo excited to see her, he loves his sister so much and always shows so much emotion when ever they are reunited.  He just stared into her face and looked like a little boy. She talked with him Hawaii and how Uncle Jr. will make him whatever food he wants when he gets there to Hawaii.  My dad kept saying, "I want to eat that"

(Remember, my dad was throwing up for 7 days and hasn't had anything to eat for 7 days and now with him having a stroke, they don't want to let him eat anything because they don't know if he could swallow, and they are keeping a close eye on him. Therefore, he is starving! So any talk about food he wants to eat!)

 She sang a Hawaiian Song "I'll Remember You" and my dad sang along with her.

They were so precious to watch and see the look between the two of them.

There was so much love witnessed between a brother and a sister.

 Irene is simply AMAZING!!! She could NOT do enough for mom and dad.

She is so full of service and LOVE that I love to watch her in action.

Her heart is so full of compassion.

I want to be like her when I grow up.

 Clay is dad's personal assistant, and right hand man!!!

Dad turns to Clay for most everything. They are the best of friends.

Dad depends on him and knows that it will get done when he asks him.

Clay is another wonderful example to me.

 Trevor brought Sydnee back to the hospital to come and see Grandpa.

Sydnee just loves him so much, but Trevor is still shocked and is so sad.

Our Amazing Aunty Joyce and Uncle Sale came when we called. She is always so quick to come and be with us. She is telling my dad right here, "Clay, your partner in crime is here! C'mon Clay we need you to fight and stay with us! We love you so much!" She and my mom have been through so much together and continue to support each other in everything.

 The ICU room was only so big, so my dad was only allowed to have 2 visitors at a time.

Can you tell that our family knows that we are exempt from that rule, or so we think we are.

We were always breaking the rule, but I think they were afraid to say anything to our family because they allowed it, even at 3:00am when all 7 of us arrived. We had a maximum of 15 people in there at one time. Our dad was always surrounded by lots of love!!

Dad has a Stroke

Mom called me on Friday, June 28th and said, Tonya I think dad had a stroke during the night. She said that when she woke up and went into the bathroom when she came out she glanced over at my dad and his head was tilted differently, so she went over and said, "Clay, good morning are you ok?" He didn't respond and he looked different. She would know because she is with him 24/7. So she went to the nurses station and told them that she thought that he might have had a stroke. They told her, "Irene, he is really exhausted from vomitting and not getting much sleep" then she demanded that they come and see. That happened at 5:30am and she was calling me at 7:15am and she was waiting for them to come get him and have some tests run to see if he did have a stroke. Well I left my house immediately, I live about 20 minutes from the hospital, so when I arrived I came into my dad's room and came to my dad and said, "Good morning dad, what's going on?" He said, "I'm fine but very tired." I asked my mom what the tests results were and she said that they haven't come to get him yet. My eyes bugged out of my head and I walked out of the room and had a fit with the nurses. I said, "There are commercials teaching people how to recognize the first signs of stroke and to immediately get them to a hospital, but because my dad is already in a hospital, we are ok to just let him sit and wait? It's been since 5:30am when my mom came to the nurses station first and now its 8:00am and who knows when he had it, but the time that we know its been 2:30 hours and my dad still hasn't been tested!!" Right then the nurse said, "We just called RAPID RESPONSE so they should be there. I asked, "What's Rapid Response?" They said it was just above code blue. Before I could do anymore yelling they were going into dad's room and I rushed in there. They took him to radiology to see if there was any clots or bleeding on the brain. As soon as they wheeled him into the room we waited outside the door and dropped to our knees right there in the hallway of the hospital and prayed to Our Heavenly Father to please help our father. He has been through so much and finally when we thought he was getting a little better something else happens to him. 

Mom kissing him "See You Later, I'll be right here waiting"

This was dad before they took him into the xray room. Bryan and Joe gave dad a blessing while the nurse was waiting for the OK to do the TPA and x-ray. I am so grateful for the opportunities to watch the priesthood in action and know that these men are men of God who are worthy.

They moved dad into the ICU and he was on so many different things and tubes and monitors.

 

Dad and his brother and sister and mom and Aunty Joyce and Uncle Sale and Max.

Us kids slept in the waiting room and took shifts every hour to watch over our dad while mom slept.  Dad had an oxygen mask on over his nose and mouth, but there was a time that Dad was telling me to take it off. I got his nurse and he removed it and my dad showed him that the water was condescending and dripping in his mouth and making him gag. So the nurse dried it out and cleaned it really well.

The Dr.'s said that dad doesn't have any feeling on the left side of his body, face, organs, etc. So his eyes would tend to fall to the right side, so they put this hat on him to give him a blinder and make him use his eyes on the left side.

 

 

 

Just the 7 of us and mom, Sunday Morning having a morning prayer and family meeting about dad.

Dad was sooo happy to see his sister and brother.  He gave them some older brotherly advice.

It's been a LONG weekend!! We are all FINALLY together. The Original 7 and Mom & Dad @ 3am

Fought with Evil Spirits

This morning I came into my dad's hospital room and I asked him how he slept last night. He told me, "Tonya I went somewhere last night, that NOBODY would want to go, I fought with Evil Spirits to stay here." I asked him to tell me more and he said, "That that's all he can say, but he wants to get his pants on and go to work." I told him that he couldn't and he said, "I want to walk and get up out of this bed." But meanwhile, they had brought in this Cardiac Chair for therapy and were going to put him in it and he could go outside. The other thing going on at that time is he was soooo uncomfortable with gas. His stomach was so bloated and he honestly felt like he was going to die, he was in so much pain. So I rubbed his stomach with some oils to help relieve some of the gas. He started to burp and feel a little better, but still uncomfortable. Then the physical therapist came in and dad's left leg was hanging off the bed, from him moving around trying to get comfortable. The therapist said, "Clay, are you getting a headstart without me?" He then said, "I want to get up." So she and the other 2 therapist helped him sit up on the side of the bed. As soon as they sat him up, he let out the BIGGEST burp I had ever heard. Then they continued back to back that I thought he was going to choke on all of the burps. You could see his stomach start getting smaller and smaller.

After sitting up for a while, he wanted to stand up so they helped him stand up.

He had a look on his face as he was looking out his window, almost like he was so determined to prove something to someone that was out there watching him. The look on his face said it all.
DETERMINATION!!!

His mind is so strong and he believes that he can do anything on his own.

But these ladies continued to help him so that he didn't fall. He walked to the wheelchair that was waiting for him, he ended up not needing the Cardiac Chair.

Clay arrived from being up north and he and I, Julee and Mom took dad for a walk to the front of the hospital in the memorial garden. He loves being outside in the sunshine. We sat outside with dad for about 20 minutes, then he was getting anxious because he wasn't very comfortable in the small

wheelchair. After being outside, we asked him "Dad, what do you want to do now?" and he said,

"Take a shower!!!"

He continued to burp and burp and burp on his walk.

After we got him back into the room I got the nurse and told her that he wanted to take a shower.

She said, "I'm sure he does, it's been a few days since his last shower."

She sent in the CNA and she and my mom gave him a good and LONG shower.

He stood on his own in the shower with the walker and the handle.

He showered for a good 30 minutes, finally the nurse came in and said "Clay, we've got to get you back in bed, your blood pressure is going to start dropping"

He kept asking her if she got him REALLY CLEAN down there!

He was exhausted after that last 2 hours and not getting any sleep during the night.

Vomiting

 Mom called me Saturday morning, Bryan and I were on our way to the temple for our anniversary and she said that Dad started throwing up from a mixture of medications that are being given to him.

His potassium was so low that they brought in this little cup of stuff to bring up his potassium, my dad told them that he usually takes molasses to bring up his potassium and they said, "NO" so he took this stuff and some orange juice and not even 2 minutes later he started vomiting.
He was vomitting sooo much and there was hardly anything in his body anymore.
We tried to give him BOOST, crackers, water and it all came up!!!
My cute dad started crying and I said, "Dad, why are you crying"
He said, "Nana I don't want you here spending your Anniversary cleaning up my vomit! You need to be celebrating with Bryan!" I told him that there is NO OTHER place I would rather be. He ended up giving us one of his gift cards to Red Lobster and told us to go to lunch on him.

He continued vomiting for 6 days. We are trying to figure out with the medications what is making him have this side effect. The Dr.'s don't seem too worried about him not eating, but nothing sounds good to him. There's nothing in his stomach anymore so he just dry heaves.  

To the Hospital Again

My poor dad has been through so much and when we think that he's on the mend, something else happens. Well I was just at the rehab with him on Tuesday night, watching the Spurs and Heat playoff game and my mom called me on Thursday morning and said that they took dad to the ER. So when I got there my dad was so swollen, that I didn't think his body could get any bigger. His hip area was filled with fluid that it looked like he was getting stretch marks. His groin was red and very tender to the touch and he was sooo uncomfortable. They ran a number of tests and they ended up admitting him into the hospital. Once the Dr. came in to talk to my mom and let her know what they needed to do, my mom refused the antibiotics, because my dad did NOT want to go to the hospital and he did NOT want antibiotics, a catheter or a pic line. So my mom had promised him before she brought him to the hospital that she wouldn't let them do that to him. So the first night they didn't give him the antibiotic and my mom and Joe gave him the natural antibiotic, they got him stable and got him on an IV with Lasix. Well, the Dr. told Andy that she truly felt like if dad didn't get on the antibiotic tonight that he would die. Andy was pretty disturbed about that news, so he shared it with Bryan. Bryan was very upset about that news, so he walked into the room and came right to dad and looked him right in the eye and said, "Dad, YOU KNOW how much I LOVE YOU, I don't want you to die, you NEED that antibiotic." Then the respiratory therapist interrupted and started giving my dad a breathing treatment, but my dad was crying as he was sharing that moment with Bryan. Bryan turned and said the same thing to Irene and went right into Joe's face and said it to him. He also said, "Joe, I couldn't carry that guilt on my chest for the rest of my life if I didn't say something and something happens to him, I'm so upset with the decisions being made in his behalf." And he walked out of the room. My husband never says anything and just lets everyone do their thing, well he had to voice his strong opinion here. He loves my dad sooooo much and thinks he's way tooo young to die. My husband has been in this family since he was 14 years old and so my dad is his 2nd dad. He was sooooo upset that the antibiotic wasn't being done. Well that evening my dad's infection rate was 25 and the normal is 5-10, so he had a lot of infection in his body. Well during the night, my mom received a few phone calls from my brothers, Clay & Adam (who were out of town at the time) who also voiced their opinion about putting dad on the antibiotic, so needless to say, my dad had the antibiotic in at 6:30am and by the time I got to the hospital at 8:00am the Dr. said that his infection rate has come down within an hour and a half, but he is still a very sick man and she hopes that it's not too late, but very glad that he's on it. As the Dr. came into talk to all of us in the room which was just me and my mom at the time, my dad was coherent and talking to me. So when the Dr. explained that the antibiotic had been going for about an hour and half and she is seeing improvement already and that she is going to put another bag of it since he's done with the first one. My dad looked at my mom and said, "I'm on an antibiotic? What are you trying to do, kill me?" That's when I stepped in and looked my dad right in the face, eye to eye and said, "Dad I am trying to do just the opposite, blame the antibiotic on me, you are tooo young to die and I am not willing to sit by and not try everything to keep you here with us." Then he said, "Well, tell them, they are here to get me." I then told him, "Well tell them to get back to work and that you aren't going anywhere, we are keeping you here!" He then smiled at me and said, "Dang it" and laughed.  It was a long day waiting for more news from the Dr.'s. We met with Dr. Leon, Dr. Brisolara and Dr. Freidan. They all wanted the best for my dad. I spoke privately with Dr. Leon and Dr. Freidan and they both believed that if mom and dad stuck to their medical plan, that dad could make a full recovery. So I was so hopeful.  
Dad had so many IV's and with his body retaining so much water it was hard for them to draw blood every 6 hours, so they ended up having to do a PIC LINE!!  Yes, the 2nd thing that he didn't want to happen to him if he came to the hospital. So he now has the antibiotic and a pic line. My poor dad, they had a hard time getting it into his arm, they tried 3 times and with the beginning of the 3rd time my dad said to the ladies, "You have to make this work, because I am not doing anything else" They made it work. Afterwards my dad is so funny, he said, "Tonya take a picture of my arm. Look at all this stuff in my arm." Joe stayed right next to the nurse that was performing the procedure to give my
  dad comfort.
 

My dad said, "Everyone that comes into this room always says, "SORRY" but when they say that, it just means PAIN for me. Either they poke, move or roll me. They don't mean "SORRY" when they say it" His poor face says it all, but he is such a trooper. He tells them when they say, "SORRY!" "Sure YOU ARE, that's what they all say!!"

Later on that evening, dad was feeling so much better, but the Dr.'s wanted him to eat lots of PROTEIN, so here was his PROTEIN DINNER: Shrimp, Steak, Protein Salad with lots of beans. It was so good to see him eat, of course he didn't eat it all, my mom got the honors of finishing it up. She loves hospital food and it was so good for us to see my mom eating as well.

My dad also asked Cecilee to get him his favorite Hawaiian pizza from Pizza Factory. He ate two huge pieces. He LOVED it and was sooo hungry!! I took pictures of dad through out the day to send to all of the family members that were unable to be with us. Clay and his family were at BYU for a basketball camp for Tayvia and a family reunion. Max and Jaden were at a football camp, so we kept in touch with pictures and lots of texting to keep them informed. Dad liked to make funny faces. Through everything that he was going through he still kept his sense of humor and loved to make me laugh!!

He finally was knocked out and sooo tired. My cute mom stayed by his side and slept in the recliner watching every move of the Dr.'s.  I just wish they realized that she wants the ABSOLUTE BEST for my dad and wants her husband back. She doesn't mean to fight with them, she just doesn't want unnecessary junk in his body. But she is working with the Dr.'s and letting them do their thing for dad. I am so proud of her, cause I know how hard it is for her.  They need to realize that she 

LOVES HIM MORE THAN ANYONE!!!