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 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 was so swollen that they were having a hard time drawing blood every 6 hours so they decided that they needed to do a PIC LINE. Yes, this was the 2nd thing that dad DID NOT WANT while in the hospital. They had a hard time trying to get the wire to go through his veins, he had some corkscrew veins. The 3rd time they tried, my dad told them, if you don't get it in this time, I'M DONE, I'm not doing anything else, you are not going through my neck! That was the next option. Needless to say, they got it in, thank goodness.
My dad is such a trooper.
He said, "Every time someone comes in and does something to me and says, "Sorry" that means that they are going to hurt me. They don't mean it when they say it.
He wanted me to take a picture after all of his IV's were in.
Dad had some wonderful visitors come and see him:
Hyrum and Gail Smith (Becca's parents) and Aunty Leise and Uncle Kawaki from Hawaii
Aunty Leise sang Tiny Bubbles to dad and he sang a little with her.
She was so sweet and soooo worried, she was Aunty Almira's connection with her brother.
The Physical Therapist came in to start working with his arms and legs to keep him mobile. My dad's arms were so swollen and in so much pain to move. He had so much fluid in his body and in his tissues.
The Dr.'s said that he is a very sick man with so many different issues going on in his body. His heart is still fighting his Congestive Heart Failure, His potassium is dangerously low, his protein is extremely low and he's malnutritioned. He has fluid around his lungs and a lung infection and possible pneumonia. His has infection in his body and a fever. They said that it isn't just his heart we are dealing with, it's so many other things.
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