Dad has been in the hospital for more than a month. If last week I mentioned that he was out of the ICU, he was brought back in the middle of the wwek because he had difficulty breathing. Things we're looking up again and he was progressing fine when...apparently last night he became restless, managed to sit up in bed even with all the restraints and in the process removed the vital tubes attached to him (i.e. one attached to the ventilating machine and the other would be the feeding tube).
These tubes, of course, had to be re-inserted again. I don't think anyone among us can really imagine how it would feel to have a tube in the mouth going to the lungs or one inserted outside the nose that goes down to the stomach.
This is the third time this has happened and is the primary reason why he stays in the ICU.
The money involved is not even mentioned...hospital bills, medicines, the ongoing dialysis,etc. Some relatives have given financial assistance but that has already been severely depleted.
It just gets frustrating and I'm not even there. I'm tired of thinking about it, but I know it's nothing compared to what my mom goes thru.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
At the Sickbay
The photo of the family was taken as soon as I arrived at the ICU Watcher's Lounge in Brokenshire Hospital in Davao City last June 7. I got back in Manila yesterday afternoon.
My dad is still in the ICU at this time but he is infinitely doing better. He has approximately spent 10 days in intensive care already and yesterday underwent his 7th dialysis. At the best of my limited medical understanding, he was diagniosed with chronic renal failure and pulmonary congestion. It's hard to pinpoint a specific cause, but smoking is definitely one of the major culprits. He quit smoking sometime way back and, of course, took up the habit again at some point. He stopped smoking again only this March and has been in and out of the hospital since April.
This morning I was informed that his doctor has ordered the removal of his endotracheal tube and he is off the mechanical ventilator. That means he can already breathe on his own and will be out of the ICU soon! After that there's still the dialysis to contend with, but it's good to know that his condition is improving daily.
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I made a mistake in my previous post. My dad is 64 years old. My bad.
My dad is still in the ICU at this time but he is infinitely doing better. He has approximately spent 10 days in intensive care already and yesterday underwent his 7th dialysis. At the best of my limited medical understanding, he was diagniosed with chronic renal failure and pulmonary congestion. It's hard to pinpoint a specific cause, but smoking is definitely one of the major culprits. He quit smoking sometime way back and, of course, took up the habit again at some point. He stopped smoking again only this March and has been in and out of the hospital since April.
This morning I was informed that his doctor has ordered the removal of his endotracheal tube and he is off the mechanical ventilator. That means he can already breathe on his own and will be out of the ICU soon! After that there's still the dialysis to contend with, but it's good to know that his condition is improving daily.
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I made a mistake in my previous post. My dad is 64 years old. My bad.
