Today was the longed for day in my father's week! The day they pulled his chest tube & let him "go free". The past week has been very hard on him. Not so much because of pain from the pericardial windows surgery, but because he HATES to be cooped up. He felt helpless because he had so many tubes & monitors hooked up to him, he couldn't even stand up without help from the nurses. As each thing was removed one by one, the more he was able to be mobile. He walked the hall (with the nurse's help because of his chest tube) as often as he could.
He often expressed his desire to go home, to family, friends, nurses, doctors & anyone else who happened to enter his room! Dr. Gray, the surgeon rounding for Dr. Sowden, told my dad that he wasn't "going to release him until he felt it was safe, no matter how many times (my dad) told him that he was OK to go home." My father, finally caught in his own game! He was trying to lead a horse (in this case, Dr. Gray) to water to make him drink, & even with salting his oats, he wouldn't budge!
He finally had the chest tube removed at 2:00 this afternoon. The nurse was able to close up the little hole in his stomach & he had to wait for 2 hours before he could be discharged, just to make sure he didn't have any bleeding problems related to removing the chest tube. He watched the Colts play, talked to Connie, Josiah & I about things, got dressed & then sat in the chair, waiting for the clock to hurry up & hit 4:00.
His nurse, Cindy, gave him a lot of discharge papers, had him sign a couple of papers & then he was ready to head out. We loaded his stuff into my Jeep & headed home, where he belongs. The weather is so beautiful, so I opened the sun roof & all of the windows so that he could feel the fresh air he craved all week.
His doggies, Emma & Micah, were very happy to have him home again. We took his things into the house & sat & talked with him for a bit, to make sure he was OK, & then we left him in his home, sweet home. I think he will spend as much time as he can today sitting in his chair in the front of his house, listening to the birds sing, looking at the blazing fall color in the trees, smelling the freshness of the air in the Grabill area... If you see him out there, be sure to stop & say hello!
He often expressed his desire to go home, to family, friends, nurses, doctors & anyone else who happened to enter his room! Dr. Gray, the surgeon rounding for Dr. Sowden, told my dad that he wasn't "going to release him until he felt it was safe, no matter how many times (my dad) told him that he was OK to go home." My father, finally caught in his own game! He was trying to lead a horse (in this case, Dr. Gray) to water to make him drink, & even with salting his oats, he wouldn't budge!
He finally had the chest tube removed at 2:00 this afternoon. The nurse was able to close up the little hole in his stomach & he had to wait for 2 hours before he could be discharged, just to make sure he didn't have any bleeding problems related to removing the chest tube. He watched the Colts play, talked to Connie, Josiah & I about things, got dressed & then sat in the chair, waiting for the clock to hurry up & hit 4:00.
His nurse, Cindy, gave him a lot of discharge papers, had him sign a couple of papers & then he was ready to head out. We loaded his stuff into my Jeep & headed home, where he belongs. The weather is so beautiful, so I opened the sun roof & all of the windows so that he could feel the fresh air he craved all week.
His doggies, Emma & Micah, were very happy to have him home again. We took his things into the house & sat & talked with him for a bit, to make sure he was OK, & then we left him in his home, sweet home. I think he will spend as much time as he can today sitting in his chair in the front of his house, listening to the birds sing, looking at the blazing fall color in the trees, smelling the freshness of the air in the Grabill area... If you see him out there, be sure to stop & say hello!
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