Second I no longer know what my husband looks like OR my childrens names, I don't know if I am coming or going. I even left one morning with the childrens books and school work in my car, Thankfully they have wonderful school counselors that notified their teachers of their moms basket-case-ed-ness. Sleep has been a luxury that doesn't exisit in my world...
Third on Monday daddy was taken to the Muskogee Regional with chest pains, heart attack ruled out, blood clot ruled out. He seemed to be getting worse by the minute then he would perk up then he would be down again. My youngest sis laura was there on Monday then again with me on Tuesday-we weren't liking what we were seeing OR the answers we were given, I did stop and ask myself, self are you being to picky? Too emotionally invested to see the staff is doing their best?
I noticed immediately on Tuesday that the level of care just wasn't there, when someone lays in their poopie sheets for over 6 hrs after asking and asking for a nurse tech to assist him you start to question if this is best place for your dad. His white blood count was 300 and he was running a fever and it took them 2 days to administer IV antibiotics-geesh I am not a nurse but even I know basic chemo treatment measures 101, Or when daddy begged for an enima and the ER staff asked my sister if she would do it...he was basically a body instead of a patient. They have a Rapid Assesment Team in place if the patient or family members feel the patient isn't getting adequate care, I found what the intials stand for highly offensive RAT, that is what you are if you feel like your daddy isn't getting proper care and you go above the nursing staff and doctor, in 5 days he was given one bag of IV fluids and it was very aparent he was dehydrated, he layed in wet bedding for hours...ARRRGGGGGG I get mad all over again typing it out...
I won't
Forth on Thursday my sister Rebecca agreed with me that he needed to be moved to Tulsa so he could be closer to his oncologist, She lives in AR so Thursday was her first visit to see daddy. I arrived early Friday morning so I could let daddy know that his daughters were pulling rank, his cancer was growing, one of his tumors is up to 12 cm appx 6inches and we just couldn't stand by any longer and let him rot in MRMC. Thankfully he agreed...
Fifth he got to ride in an ambulance with 2 beautiful women(Oh sheet wheres the men is what he was thinking) (drivers-his words)EMTs on a hydraulic (buggy-his words) stretcher...fun times fun times
Sixth St Francis Hospital and the staff have been a breath of fresh air and I mean that literally(if you could have smelled MRMC you would know what I mean). His nurses are fantastic, attentive, kind, fast, caring. His Doc immediately sent him to Xray got him hooked up with proper meds and now daddy is playing catch up from the hell he went through at MRMC. He has a tube down his nose,throat and into his tummy to get the stomach acid that was making him vomit and air out of his distended belly and he is finally getting some color back in his cheeks. He has been pretty much sedated mainly due to the the meds they gave him prior to the tubing. We are staying positive and I can tell you Friday night was the first night I had slept because I knew he was finally getting the care he needed and deserved....at a place where the patient and his family does have a voice
Seventh I am taking the afternoon shift at the hospital, both my sisters will be there this morning and we need to break down our visits since everyone will be going home later today and now that he is about 15 mins from my home I will take over staying with him until he is released. My sis, Becks just called and said he looks good-color has returned to his cheeks and he no longer looks grey/greenish,his belly looks better-he looked like he was 9months preggers with sextuplets, his white count is normal now so he is off antibiotics, he has been bathed, the doc has been by and he said they are going to try and clamp his tube and take off the suction to see if he is still sick feeling, if he does well they will try and remove the tube later today or in the morning, his friends just stopped in to visit him and he got a big smile on his face...a BIG sigh of relief...
I won't be posting many daddy updates after this, things are so uncertain now that we know the cancer is growing-I have shared his story with you all starting from last year when it all began-you helped me through some really hard and rough times, it's just so hard now to type the things that will surely come, to fast and to soon but I want you to know If you have questions or just want a 'daddy update' feel free to email me-my email link is up there on my sidebar, I don't mind sharing, just not as publicly anymore, I hope you understand...
My confession for today: In the end, family is what matters...
