Tips For Caregiver's

People with Alzheimer's disease frequently become more disoriented after dark or when waking. Leaving a night-light on in the bedroom may be helpful.

~WebMd

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

More Time...

I just spent the last 40 minutes on the phone with the hospital getting an update. When I was there on Saturday, the news wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. I am sure you can imagine how stunned I was to receive the most recent prognosis. Honestly, I think I am getting a headache simply trying to process the amount of medical information I just received. To summarize...

  1. They believe my dad had a stroke yesterday. This is bad enough as it is, however, according to the CAT Scan it looks like he previously had a stroke in the same place in the brain some time ago.
  2. His kidney's have not resumed functioning and they don't believe they ever will.
  3. While he is breathing on his own, he is not able to without assistance. The tubes from the ventilator need to be removed before causing additional damage leaving me with two options: a. remove the ventilator and insert a tracheotomy and feeding tube or b. remove the ventilator and allow nature to take its course
  4. His liver is damaged (prior to hospitalization) which is making matters worse.
  5. Overall he is in a fragile condition and they don't believe there is much else they can do for him that would restore his quality of life. Not to mention any measures they take now, may actually make matters worse.

Please continue to pray. I am taking Muddear over to see him tonight. I plan to have a follow-up conversation with the doctor as well.

I wish I had more time...

2 comments:

Jane Carlstrom said...

Oh, my heart is heavy for all of you tonight. Keeping you in my thoughts, Hugs, Jane

njm said...

As always, thanks Jane. I will continue to keep you posted.