I have been just terrible at updating the blog since I got home from Boston. Going there and leaving there were two of the hardest things that I have ever done, and returning to this blog reporting things from a distance has been an emotional trial for me. Being there, in the middle of it all, somehow made me realize just what a huge mess we had on our hands, both there in Boston and at home!! Nothing can prepare you for the nasty thing that is cancer, nor what it can do to people involved!
I always have seen my dad as one of my very best friends. He is my hero and this situation has made me realize more and more what an amazing man he is! He does not deserve any of this, and watching him struggle through all of this has been heartbreaking to me. So, I will do my best to keep my emotions in check and keep this blog updated, so that one day, hopefully soon, my dad can read this like a journal and realize the miracle that is his life!!!
Since my last post they had moved Dad to a step down unit. He was making HUGE progress in the few days that he was in that unit. Wednesday, the 25th, they decided to move him to a rehabilitation facility in Cambridge. We had heard amazing things from the doctors about how great this facility was, and so we were excited about the step forward. We arrived at Spaulding Rehab Center at about 7:00pm that evening, and were checked into a room with a roommate....not ideal in any sense, but this was AWFUL!! The little man next to dad was obviously a very impatient man, and instead of ringing the nurses button, he would kick his bed and yell! He began throwing things after we had been there a while. I was very uncompfortable with the set up and expressed my concerns to the nurse. Not much was done about it that night, and Dad obviously didn't get any sleep that night. The next morning I was more than irriated! I insisted that he be moved, and shortly after, they did find his roommate a new room. I had anticipated things going a little more smoothly after that.
The doctors and rehab team took turns coming in and meeting dad, and getting aquainted with his case. But nothing was being done. He sat in bed that whole day, and the next moring he told me he was having trouble breathing. I finally got the nurses attention, and she called the doctor. To shorten this story a bit...we ended up back at Brigham and Women's hosptial ICU on Friday afternoon. Dad had fluid building up in his chest cavity, and it needed to be drained. They put him on a lasix drip and started to get the probelm under control, but by then he had sat in bed again for almost 3 days.....so much progress just out the window! We were back to not being able to stand and walk again....so much for rehab!!!
Back at Brigham, I could tell dad was feeling much more compfortable. By the next day he was already feeling better and things were back under control. I expressed my concerns with the rehab center to the doctors and they decided to keep dad in the ICU there at the Brigham until the fluid was under control.
Paul was able to come out for a few days, and he got there on Saturday the 28th. Dad was excited to see him! It was so good for both of them! I had to leave on Sunday the 29th, and it was tough! I cried the whole way to the airport, because I hated leaving him! Paul got to spend a few alone days with dad and then Barbara got there on Tuesday evening.
As of now, Dad is back in the step down unit and doing well!!! He has yet to pass his swallow test, and so he is still unable to swallow anything, other than water soaked spongies. Today he walked the whole way around the nurses desk in his unit...WITHOUT STOPPING!!! That is HUGE!
The plan as far as we know right now, is to get dad to a point that he can walk and get to the bathroom by himself, and then send him to a rehab facitlity for the physical therapy part of things. Since they are playing things by ear right now, there hasn't been any firm plans made, other than to get him well enough to come home! That is the ultimate goal!!
I will do my best to keep the blog more up to date!! Thanks Aunt Ardis for giving me a little kick in the butt!! :)
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