It has been a few days since I posted anything to the blog. That isn't because nothing has happened. Rather things have happened so fast that it is hard to find a few minutes to sit at the computer and type.
Sunday I went first to church and then to Port Huron by myself because Arend wasn't feeling well at all. Since he was experiencing the same symptoms that Daddy had, I was concerned that he might have C. diff as well. Before I left church to go to Port Huron, I called him and suggested that he go to "emerge" to get checked. Surprisingly, he agreed to go. That is probably indicative of how bad he felt. He ended up spending more than six hours waiting. Fortunately, the doctor told him that it wasn't very likely that Arend had C. diff since it is usually only people who have been on antibiotics who get it. (I guess that makes me a prime target.) Yesterday Arend saw our family doctor who told him that the blood tests they had run on Sunday indicated that Arend did not have C. diff. We were glad to have that confirmation. Apparently Arend's problems stemmed from the irregular sleeping and eating pattern we developed over the period of Wednesday through Friday last week.
Monday when we went to visit my dad, he told us that he had been discharged! We were stunned, to say the least. The hospitalist (the in-house hospital doctor) had told me on Saturday that he might be released on Tuesday but we surely weren't prepared for him to go home on Monday! That sent me scrambling to Wal-Mart to buy him some clothes to wear home. Then we had to get his prescriptions filled at the CVS pharmacy. The one prescription was a suspension for which the pharmacist had to grind up the medication. It took two hours for him to get done! All that time Daddy and Arend were sitting in the car waiting for me.
Now Daddy is happy to be home in familiar surroundings. One of his medications (the one that we had to wait for so long) has to be given every six hours around the clock, so Arend and I are taking turns staying with him so that there is someone with him "24/7" not just to supervise his medication but also to keep him company.
His mind is just as sharp as ever and he is getting stronger every day. He is able to walk to the bathroom on his own using a standard walker and eats dinner at the table with us. Dinner - now there's an interesting concept...We are making dinner at home and then transporting it to Daddy's house since his stove is not hooked up. We didn't see the need to hook it up when Daddy moved here since we knew that we would be cooking all of his meals except breakfast right here. It's a good thing that he has a microwave and microwavable dishes, too!
We are so thankful that he is here in Canada where we can do this for him. Had he stayed in Pennsylvania we would never have been able to do so and he might have ended up in a nursing home somewhere.
How blessed we have been throughout this ordeal! The Lord has heard our prayers and supplied our every need. We thank Him for His continuing blessing and care. We also thank all of you for your support through prayers, visits, phone calls and offers of help. The communion of saints is an awesome thing!
Till next time,
Willa Dale
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
C. diff, Part 2
There isn't a lot to report today. We spent about six hours with Daddy and he was awake the entire time. He is still on a clear liquid diet which doesn't please him. However, until the antibiotics take effect he can't have anything else. Today he said that he would really like to have mashed potatoes and gravy. (I will keep that in mind for when he comes home from the hospital!)
He is concerned that things are not progressing as quickly as he would like for them to. However, I keep telling him that the C. diff had quite a hold on his body and it will take a while for the antibiotics to overpower the C. diff and actually start the healing process. I don't think he is buying my story, though.
His mind is regaining its usual sharpness which is nice for us to see, but he is still moaning and groaning a lot. When asked (by us or the nurses) he says nothing hurts; he is just tired of feeling so miserable.
Arend isn't feeling too well either. Hopefully it is just the stress of the past three weeks. However, he will ask our family doctor to test him for C. diff when he sees him on Tuesday.
He is concerned that things are not progressing as quickly as he would like for them to. However, I keep telling him that the C. diff had quite a hold on his body and it will take a while for the antibiotics to overpower the C. diff and actually start the healing process. I don't think he is buying my story, though.
His mind is regaining its usual sharpness which is nice for us to see, but he is still moaning and groaning a lot. When asked (by us or the nurses) he says nothing hurts; he is just tired of feeling so miserable.
Arend isn't feeling too well either. Hopefully it is just the stress of the past three weeks. However, he will ask our family doctor to test him for C. diff when he sees him on Tuesday.
Friday, April 25, 2008
C. diff
April 25, 2008
Dear family and friends,
Over the last 72 hours I have done what our son John told me a couple of weeks ago that I needed to do - I have grown up. Surprisingly, it wasn't as difficult or painful as I thought it might be and I am thankful for that.
You know that my dad has been unwell since April first. We thought that he was suffering from a viral illness, but it just wouldn't go away. This past Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday he completely stopped eating and drinking. Finally on Wednesday (the start of my growing up) I said to Arend that Daddy should go to the hospital "emerge" (ER in the States). Daddy really didn't want to go, so I just told him that I had called for an ambulance and he was going. If he had been well he would have fought me "tooth and nail", but that certainly didn't happen this time.
Because he arrived by ambulance he avoided that 6-8 hour wait one usually experiences when going to "emerge". Within two hours of his arrival they had made arrangements for him to be admitted to the surgical floor of the Chatham hospital. The whole time that he was in "emerge" he kept calling me "Dot" and I would just tell him that she wasn't there. I couldn't tell him that my mother had died nearly two years ago. It just wouldn't have helped things at all. I told him that it was Willa Dale with him. Then he kept telling me that he was going to die and I replied every time that he wasn't going to die especially since he wanted to see the two new babies and visit with Noah as well as talk to him on the phone.
The "emerge" physician told me that he felt fairly certain that Daddy had C. diff (see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/c-difficile/DS00736 ) and possibly an abscessed diverticulum.
I went up with him to the fourth floor and stayed with him for quite some time. I was surprised to see a very dear friend appear at the door of his room about 10:15 with a large cup of Earl Grey tea in her hand! She stayed with me until I was ready to leave and was a great comfort, probably more than she can imagine. How did she get up to the fourth floor when all the doors were locked? She went through "emerge", told them that her granddaddy had been admitted to the hospital, got the room number from them and then the security guard unlocked the door and let her through! I would call that pretty resourceful!
The next morning I had some school board duties that had to be attended to at the school and that same friend took my place by my dad's bedside and made sure that he drank the contrast liquid he needed for one of the tests. Amazing - he wouldn't drink it for the nurse, but he drank it for Marlene! After he was taken down for the test, she came to the school and told me everything that had transpired at the hospital, then took me out for lunch. Wow! Unfortunately, I didn't have much appetite at that point.
When I got back to the hospital, I found him pretty much the way Marlene described - sleepy and kind of "out of it". (I didn't realize how "out of it" he was till today - more on that later). Matt arrived about 2:30. We knew that he might come because he had to be down in this area of Ontario on business, but we didn't tell Daddy because we thought he would be disappointed if something happened and Matt couldn't get there. Considering how "out of it" he was, I don't suppose it would have made a difference if we had told him that Matt was coming.
It was time for Daddy to have some barium solution for his CT scan. Matt got him to drink it all! Daddy's nurse said that Matt had missed his calling - he should have been a nurse. She really liked his bedside manner. That's something I have been saying for the last two years. I saw how he worked with my mother in the hours just before she died and he was fantastic with her!
Matt left about four o'clock because he had work that needed to be done in Guelph before dark. I went down with Daddy for the CT scan, but Arend (who had arrived while Matt was there) stayed in Daddy's room. Not too long after we got back to his room, the surgeon came to talk to us. The news wasn't very good. The diagnosis of C. diff had been confirmed through blood tests and the sigmoidoscopy and CT scan. However, there was no diverticular abscess. She told us that in 5% of the cases of C. diff a colostomy had to be performed and in people of my dad's age, that percentage was ever greater. She also wondered whether he would survive the surgery if he indeed had to have it.
That generated a whole new set of concerns, of course. Finally (the next step in my growing up) I told her that we would like to have him transferred to the U.S. if he were to be hospitalized for a long period of time and have to undergo surgery. He has no medical or hospital coverage here in Canada but is covered in the U.S. That doctor moved mountains to get him admitted to a hospital in Port Huron, Michigan! She even made arrangements for an ambulance to come from Michigan to pick him up! Unbelievable!
Arend and I rushed back to Ridgetown to pick up all of the documents the three of us would need to cross the border then hurried back to Chatham to be there before the American ambulance arrived. As it turned out, we needn't have rushed. We ended up waiting for it for 90 minutes!
We followed the ambulance to Port Huron then went up to the floor he was to be on - the fourth floor again! We had to wait until they had assessed him before we could see him. He was so "out of it" that we just told him that we were there and that we were going to stay overnight in Port Huron and would see him this morning. He didn't really grasp what we were saying at all.
After a short night's sleep we were back at the hospital. Before we went to see him, we stopped at the nurses' station and were able to talk with three of the doctors who had seen him. Imagine my surprise when one of them said that Daddy had told him that he was immigrating to Canada because his daughter lived there! Compare that to 12 hours earlier when he didn't understand that he had been moved from Chatham to Port Huron or even that he was in a hospital! Incredible!
When we went in to see him, we were very happy to see how much better he was. Sure, he was still in pain, still a very sick man, but dramatically improved from when we had left only 10 hours before. He didn't remember anything at all about Thursday - no Marlene, no Matt, no tests, no bumpy ambulance ride - nothing, but throughout today he continued to improve. He reminded us of some things that needed to be done - some of which he hadn't discussed in months! He even "ate" about half of his clear liquid lunch and the same of his clear liquid dinner. Clear liquid diets, we learned, include popsicles and Jell-o in addition to the usual broth, juice and tea. Not overly appetizing but good for you when you are so dehydrated.
We talked to more health care professionals today then we could count (well, not really, but there were a lot) and they all said that Chatham had done a very good job of "working him up" and that their (Port Huron's) findings concurred with those of Chatham. Now they are treating him with the antibiotic Flagyl by mouth and an IV GGG which is a specialized bunch of antibodies that will go directly to the colon and destroy the C. diff that is there. Of course he is still getting a saline or potassium IV drip to re-hydrate him. It appears that they are alternating between the NaCl and the KCl drips for some reason.
The doctors are extremely positive about his recovery and we are encouraged by that. But most of all we thank the LORD for hearing our prayers and answering them in such a way. Once again we have been reminded that we can place all of our burdens on Him and He will carry them. What a wonderful promise and comfort that is!
Dear family and friends,
Over the last 72 hours I have done what our son John told me a couple of weeks ago that I needed to do - I have grown up. Surprisingly, it wasn't as difficult or painful as I thought it might be and I am thankful for that.
You know that my dad has been unwell since April first. We thought that he was suffering from a viral illness, but it just wouldn't go away. This past Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday he completely stopped eating and drinking. Finally on Wednesday (the start of my growing up) I said to Arend that Daddy should go to the hospital "emerge" (ER in the States). Daddy really didn't want to go, so I just told him that I had called for an ambulance and he was going. If he had been well he would have fought me "tooth and nail", but that certainly didn't happen this time.
Because he arrived by ambulance he avoided that 6-8 hour wait one usually experiences when going to "emerge". Within two hours of his arrival they had made arrangements for him to be admitted to the surgical floor of the Chatham hospital. The whole time that he was in "emerge" he kept calling me "Dot" and I would just tell him that she wasn't there. I couldn't tell him that my mother had died nearly two years ago. It just wouldn't have helped things at all. I told him that it was Willa Dale with him. Then he kept telling me that he was going to die and I replied every time that he wasn't going to die especially since he wanted to see the two new babies and visit with Noah as well as talk to him on the phone.
The "emerge" physician told me that he felt fairly certain that Daddy had C. diff (see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/c-difficile/DS00736 ) and possibly an abscessed diverticulum.
I went up with him to the fourth floor and stayed with him for quite some time. I was surprised to see a very dear friend appear at the door of his room about 10:15 with a large cup of Earl Grey tea in her hand! She stayed with me until I was ready to leave and was a great comfort, probably more than she can imagine. How did she get up to the fourth floor when all the doors were locked? She went through "emerge", told them that her granddaddy had been admitted to the hospital, got the room number from them and then the security guard unlocked the door and let her through! I would call that pretty resourceful!
The next morning I had some school board duties that had to be attended to at the school and that same friend took my place by my dad's bedside and made sure that he drank the contrast liquid he needed for one of the tests. Amazing - he wouldn't drink it for the nurse, but he drank it for Marlene! After he was taken down for the test, she came to the school and told me everything that had transpired at the hospital, then took me out for lunch. Wow! Unfortunately, I didn't have much appetite at that point.
When I got back to the hospital, I found him pretty much the way Marlene described - sleepy and kind of "out of it". (I didn't realize how "out of it" he was till today - more on that later). Matt arrived about 2:30. We knew that he might come because he had to be down in this area of Ontario on business, but we didn't tell Daddy because we thought he would be disappointed if something happened and Matt couldn't get there. Considering how "out of it" he was, I don't suppose it would have made a difference if we had told him that Matt was coming.
It was time for Daddy to have some barium solution for his CT scan. Matt got him to drink it all! Daddy's nurse said that Matt had missed his calling - he should have been a nurse. She really liked his bedside manner. That's something I have been saying for the last two years. I saw how he worked with my mother in the hours just before she died and he was fantastic with her!
Matt left about four o'clock because he had work that needed to be done in Guelph before dark. I went down with Daddy for the CT scan, but Arend (who had arrived while Matt was there) stayed in Daddy's room. Not too long after we got back to his room, the surgeon came to talk to us. The news wasn't very good. The diagnosis of C. diff had been confirmed through blood tests and the sigmoidoscopy and CT scan. However, there was no diverticular abscess. She told us that in 5% of the cases of C. diff a colostomy had to be performed and in people of my dad's age, that percentage was ever greater. She also wondered whether he would survive the surgery if he indeed had to have it.
That generated a whole new set of concerns, of course. Finally (the next step in my growing up) I told her that we would like to have him transferred to the U.S. if he were to be hospitalized for a long period of time and have to undergo surgery. He has no medical or hospital coverage here in Canada but is covered in the U.S. That doctor moved mountains to get him admitted to a hospital in Port Huron, Michigan! She even made arrangements for an ambulance to come from Michigan to pick him up! Unbelievable!
Arend and I rushed back to Ridgetown to pick up all of the documents the three of us would need to cross the border then hurried back to Chatham to be there before the American ambulance arrived. As it turned out, we needn't have rushed. We ended up waiting for it for 90 minutes!
We followed the ambulance to Port Huron then went up to the floor he was to be on - the fourth floor again! We had to wait until they had assessed him before we could see him. He was so "out of it" that we just told him that we were there and that we were going to stay overnight in Port Huron and would see him this morning. He didn't really grasp what we were saying at all.
After a short night's sleep we were back at the hospital. Before we went to see him, we stopped at the nurses' station and were able to talk with three of the doctors who had seen him. Imagine my surprise when one of them said that Daddy had told him that he was immigrating to Canada because his daughter lived there! Compare that to 12 hours earlier when he didn't understand that he had been moved from Chatham to Port Huron or even that he was in a hospital! Incredible!
When we went in to see him, we were very happy to see how much better he was. Sure, he was still in pain, still a very sick man, but dramatically improved from when we had left only 10 hours before. He didn't remember anything at all about Thursday - no Marlene, no Matt, no tests, no bumpy ambulance ride - nothing, but throughout today he continued to improve. He reminded us of some things that needed to be done - some of which he hadn't discussed in months! He even "ate" about half of his clear liquid lunch and the same of his clear liquid dinner. Clear liquid diets, we learned, include popsicles and Jell-o in addition to the usual broth, juice and tea. Not overly appetizing but good for you when you are so dehydrated.
We talked to more health care professionals today then we could count (well, not really, but there were a lot) and they all said that Chatham had done a very good job of "working him up" and that their (Port Huron's) findings concurred with those of Chatham. Now they are treating him with the antibiotic Flagyl by mouth and an IV GGG which is a specialized bunch of antibodies that will go directly to the colon and destroy the C. diff that is there. Of course he is still getting a saline or potassium IV drip to re-hydrate him. It appears that they are alternating between the NaCl and the KCl drips for some reason.
The doctors are extremely positive about his recovery and we are encouraged by that. But most of all we thank the LORD for hearing our prayers and answering them in such a way. Once again we have been reminded that we can place all of our burdens on Him and He will carry them. What a wonderful promise and comfort that is!
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