Thursday, July 23, 2009 (baby steps)

Today could be summarized as very slow, but normal improvement. I suppose 'slow' is a term of relativity that is different for everybody and based upon personal expectations. Though we have been told to look at this process as long, it is hard to not still expect to see more rapid improvement.

Lots of activity again today, doctors, nurses, specialists, cleaners, and some guests. Dr. Wang came by. He is the heart doctor that is watching Dad's irregular heart beat. He says that because Dad's heart had reverted to its old habits of atrial fibrilation, he was living with a 5% chance of having a stroke at some point during the year. That seems really high to me. One of the blessings that has occurred from this fall is that dad is going on blood thinning medication (likely for a long time to come) to reduce that stroke risk. That reminds me, perhaps we should start keeping a list of blessings stemming from the accident. To finish up on the heart thing, Dr. Wang says that after dad gets out of the hospital and somewhat recovered, a decision should be made about whether to have another oblation surgery. I think Wang suggested that if Dad was not too symptomatic (dizzy, nausea, tired), maybe they wouldn't do another procedure.

Changing topics to sleep apnea. It's a condition that I have begun understanding more lately. Dad has likely had it for a while, and I am hoping to use his time in the hospital to get it officially diagnosed so that he can get a cpap machine. The quick version of this story is that when some people sleep, the muscles in their throat collapse or nearly collaps cutting off air flow. The bodies reaction is to wake up repeatedly through the night. The result is lack of restful sleep and, over time, a lot of wear and tear on your body that can result in mood disorders, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, etc. etc. Science is only now waking up (yeah, I meant that) to many of the effects that sleep disorders can have on our overall health. By the way, this condition has nothing to do with the fall, but I am excited about seeing if we can get him diagnosed this week.

Now for the chest tube. The purpose of the tube as Laurie as already explained it is to drain fluid and air from between the skin and the lung. You see, when the lung was punctured, both air and fluid leaked out and began collecting in the space between the lung and skin. It was weird, gross, and sort of interesting to listen to the rice crispy crackles under the skin as dad rubbed his hand over it. I think the tube has been inserted from outside his body to in between the ribs and into that cavity. Can you see why this is the thing that is causing him the most pain right now? So, the first two days, that chest tube was sucking (as in a vacuum) out any fluid hanging around in the chest cavity, allowing space for the lung to reinflate when it heals. Today, they turned off the vacuum. The goal is to see whether the cavity fills up again with fluid or air. If it does not, it means the lung has sealed itself off. So far so good on that result today. If these results continue, it is possible that tomorrow Dad may be able to have the tube taken out. He says he plans to do a little dance when that happens.

At the moment (Thurs at 3 pm), he is doing his physical therapy which basically entails standing up and turning his hips, or doing the centanarian shuffle 2 feet one direction. It concludes with sitting back down on the edge of the bed and laying down. It is TOUGH work for him. He is a trooper to do it. As he was shuffling, he said the the therapists, "Now these are real baby steps".