Wow, what a day. In the morning Van and I made a bunch of phone calls to appeal Medicare's denial of John's physical and occupational therapy. That got resolved, yay. He'll be receiving restorative therapy, which means the therapists will work with him in his room, even while he's in bed. This should be significantly easier and if he gains strength he can return to PT.
Then the real fun began. When we went to see John at lunchtime, he was sitting in a chair with a plastic basin. He had vomited old blood (also called "coffee grounds") and the nursing home arranged for him to go to the hospital. He didn't look good and seemed to be having some trouble breathing. He got to the ER and by that time was in respiratory distress. He was sweating and just looked horrible. He was incredibly congested. They suctioned thick mucus from him. His blood oxygen levels were in the 70s and his heart rate above 150. I thought he might croak right then and there. Oddly, his blood work was fairly good. The ER doctor said other than his bilirubin being high, the other liver functions were not bad at all. His platelets were 56K, which is higher than they've been in quite some time. And his lungs are clear. He was admitted to ICU. After they got him settled they put him on a bi-pap machine to help him breathe better. His heart rate slowed down and his blood oxygen levels were back in the 90s. Whew. Later this evening, he was breathing much better and they removed the bi-pap for awhile but will use it again during the night. His heart is still elevated, around the 120s, but better than before. The ICU nurse suctioned him and got nearly a liter of old blood from his stomach so she inserted a NG tube to continue the suctioning. The blood thing can happen with liver disease. The good news is they are going to tap him tomorrow, THANK YOU JESUS. I told the pulmonary doc that no one has wanted to tap him, but he said, "They'll do it. There's more than one way to skin a cat." They gave him vitamin K and plasma to thicken his blood. His platelets are good to go if they remain where they are now.
So the poor guy had a rough day, but tomorrow should be better for him.
1 comment:
Dear Father in Heaven, we pray for John this morning and ask that You grant him a day of rest and restoration. He's exhausted from yesterday's ordeal, today has more than he can carry, but not more than You can carry for him. Bless this day. Thank You for it. And bless Susan and Van with peace and rest in You as well. Amen.
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