It's around 6:00 p.m. & my dad is on his way to the Surgery Trauma Intensive Care Unit for the night. Dr. Sowden took about 4 pounds of fluid from his pericardium - twice what was removed last year! He is puzzled as to the cause of the build up of fluid & can't guarantee that it won't happen again, but he hopes that the pericardial windows procedure will prevent further fluid build up.
Around 7:00 we went to see him in his STICU room. He was very uncomfortable & had a lot of pain where Dr. Sowden removed his Xyphoid Process in order to get to his pericardium. He has a chest tube in place which will allow fluid to drain from his chest cavity over the next day or two. The respiratory therapist, Virginia, came in not long after we got into his room & began to make him breathe deeply, exhale & cough. When she would have him cough, she would put both of her arms across his chest & lean onto her arms & then have him cough. That made it less painful. He didn't want to comply at first, but her persistance convinced him to get it over with! He would have breathing treatments every 2 hours X 4 treatments & then would go to a treatment every 4 hours.
His mouth was very dry & it bothered him. He brought some cough drops, because for as long as I can remember, he has had a chronic dry mouth every night when he would sleep. He has always had cough drops next to the bed. Ice wasn't doing anything for him, so I slipped him a cough drop when there were no nurses in the room.
The visiting hours for the STICU are unique from other ICU's. We went back in to his room at 8:30 & stayed with him until 9:30 when we got booted out. Kristie, Abbi & others gave him a gentle massage of his shoulders & his feet. His BP was high, but after he was massaged, it dropped to a very good level. He felt like he might be able to sleep, so we said good night & prayed that he would have a peaceful night.
The preliminary plan is that Tuesday afternoon he will be moved out of STICU into a regular room. He will be there for several days. Since tomorrow is the 1st anniversary of our mom's passing, we are gathering as many of the grandkids that can make it & we are spending the afternoon & evening together, remembering the amazing woman we all knew & loved. We are asking that no one visit on Tuesday for this reason. Thank you for respecting our wishes.
As more progress is made & more information is available, I will pass it on to you. Please pray for him to have his pain managed effectively, to sleep well in spite of his surroundings, to heal completely & for him to feel the peace of the Holy Spirit comforting him. Your prayers are the greatest gift you can give him! Thank you!
If you would like, you can post a comment for him below. I will be sure that he hears everything you write to him.
Around 7:00 we went to see him in his STICU room. He was very uncomfortable & had a lot of pain where Dr. Sowden removed his Xyphoid Process in order to get to his pericardium. He has a chest tube in place which will allow fluid to drain from his chest cavity over the next day or two. The respiratory therapist, Virginia, came in not long after we got into his room & began to make him breathe deeply, exhale & cough. When she would have him cough, she would put both of her arms across his chest & lean onto her arms & then have him cough. That made it less painful. He didn't want to comply at first, but her persistance convinced him to get it over with! He would have breathing treatments every 2 hours X 4 treatments & then would go to a treatment every 4 hours.
His mouth was very dry & it bothered him. He brought some cough drops, because for as long as I can remember, he has had a chronic dry mouth every night when he would sleep. He has always had cough drops next to the bed. Ice wasn't doing anything for him, so I slipped him a cough drop when there were no nurses in the room.
The visiting hours for the STICU are unique from other ICU's. We went back in to his room at 8:30 & stayed with him until 9:30 when we got booted out. Kristie, Abbi & others gave him a gentle massage of his shoulders & his feet. His BP was high, but after he was massaged, it dropped to a very good level. He felt like he might be able to sleep, so we said good night & prayed that he would have a peaceful night.
The preliminary plan is that Tuesday afternoon he will be moved out of STICU into a regular room. He will be there for several days. Since tomorrow is the 1st anniversary of our mom's passing, we are gathering as many of the grandkids that can make it & we are spending the afternoon & evening together, remembering the amazing woman we all knew & loved. We are asking that no one visit on Tuesday for this reason. Thank you for respecting our wishes.
As more progress is made & more information is available, I will pass it on to you. Please pray for him to have his pain managed effectively, to sleep well in spite of his surroundings, to heal completely & for him to feel the peace of the Holy Spirit comforting him. Your prayers are the greatest gift you can give him! Thank you!
If you would like, you can post a comment for him below. I will be sure that he hears everything you write to him.
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