Surgery

Dad's surgery went well. They didn't find an abscess and they determined the radiologist read the film wrong. It was a tube that they had inserted that the radiologist saw. Idiot. Anyway, he pulled through nicely.

He is currently weaning. Martha said he has been wide awake more than a few times since his surgery. He is sleeping now. Im sure they have him on even more pain meds, which is actually exciting if he is that doped up and able to breath on his own.

I got a call back from Tom Harkin's office. I will give that lady a call back later and see what she has to say.

Surgery

Dad is scheduled for his colostomy tomorrow. The plastic surgeon came and looked at the abscess and it is more in the peri-rectal area, so he didnt want to touch it and referred it back to the surgeon to see if he wanted to drain it. I am sure he has it because his last name is Shoning and not from the bed sore. :-)

They say that his wound looks a ton better now than it did when he came in. All pink, fresh tissue.

They are giving him a new diuretic that I guess is given to people who are specifically on ventilators. Makes them a bit more successful at weaning. Must have some sort of lung properties in it. They are weaning him 6 hours on, then a few hours off now. It helps him build stamina.

He is also getting physical therapy daily, but he is so puffy with fluid now, its hard to do it. He is back up to almost 300 pounds again. That is a lot of fluid.

That's all I have for now.

Poppa

Coleman and I went to be with him yesterday. He really seems to have a sense of peace about him now, like he feels okay being where he is.

He was pretty sleepy most of the day. He is on a really strong pain patch and is getting morphine also to suppplement the remaining pain. He sill complains that his shoulder hurts. He really wanted a lot of water yesterday. The nurse allowed me to give him some ice chips and he loved it.

Its a lot harder trying to figure out what he is saying now, because he is so high on pain meds. When he was awake, he wanted to watch CNN and when we left he didnt throw a fit. He knows he is having surgery for the colostomy this week and he was fine with it.

The staff there are really nice. I like them all a lot. Scott is going up today to spend a little bit of time with him at dads request. I took of video of him saying hi. Its on Colemans phone now. Ill post it up later.

Hell Yes!!!

Dad weaned yesterday for 12 hours. He could have gone longer, but they put him back on so he wouldnt tire out and would be able to go again today. Which he is, and doing well.

They got the results of the CT scan of his pelvis back. He has a HUGE abcess in his bed sore. They are going to have a plastic surgeon or a general surgeon take a peek at it. They are seriously considering giving him a temporary colostomy bag because they just can't keep that wound clean unless they do, and we really need it to heal. Wounds like that can be fatal if they aren't treated correctly. That is how Christopher Reeve died and I am sure he had the best of the best medical care.

I am SO freaking happy he is where he is. These people are a God send and he really needs it.

Thanks everyone!!!

Past Weekend

From what Scott said, dad was fairly alert most of the weekend. They were successful at weaning him a few hours at a time, twice per day. Thats all I got out of Scott.

Martha called today. He had a different pulmonary doc take a look at him. He has a bit of fluid surrounding his left lung, and it appears that the left lung has also narrowed at the left brochus. So, they are going to do a bronchoscopy today to figure out why. This may be the reason why he hasn't weaned. The food flooding into his lungs for the past few months didn't help either.

I found out that he did receive some blood product last week and they are also going to put him on lasix, as he is getting fluid accumulation again. They are changing his pain meds to a phentynel patch, so that should help with some of the pain he has.

I am going this weekend. I hope to stay with him both days.

Dad is WEANING!!!

He has been in Oelwein for what, 3 months? And they never attempted to wean. He has been in the hospital for 5 days, and they are weaning him. They are shooting for 2 hours today, and he is just about there. His lungs look sooo much better now that they moved the tube.

The lady doc that was there when he was admitted told the pulmonologist that she wanted him weaned so he can come back to Des Moines. SHE IS AWESOME!!!

Finally a doctor who is looking at him as a 62 year old human being who has had some shit circumstances and not as a medical chart full of unsolvable issues. I am so happy!!

Gary Fong is the Coolest!!

For those of you who don't know who Gary Fong is, he is a very famous retired wedding photographer, real estate investor and inventor. He is kind of like the Mike Tyson of photography...without the ear biting and raping. Anyway, dad always followed him and actually found himself joining Facebook because of him. I am also a fan of Gary so I sent him a little message this morning asking him if he would write a "get well" message on dad's page. I never thought he would respond back, and he did!! In like 20 minutes!! What an awesome dude!!!

This is what he wrote:

Gary Fong ✮
Hey Jim, I got such a nice email from your daughter explaining your situation. I've been in the ICU before there are so many electronics surrounding you. I used to watch all the monitors like a dashboard connected to my body. Anyway this much I know you have a nice daughter! Looks on your status that things are looking up, - may your 25th be filled with hope on your anniversary and may your recovery be swift! One thing going through rough times has taught me is bigtime patience :) get well soon! Gary Fong

How cool is that! What a neat dude.

Anyway, dad has a strep and a staff infection. He is still sleepy today but seems to be feeling a bit better. The rehab doctor is going to come in and see him next week. the ICU doc doesn't think that splinting his shoulder will help, but I guess that will be determined next week.

Debbie is coming today and staying through tomorrow. Then Scott will be there. Ill keep everyone posted on any news I get.

Surgery

Dad has slept most of the day. They can't really tell how well the new feeding tube has been working since they haven't run it yet. They took him to surgery today to remove the central line. Took about 30 minutes and apparently was chock full of infection.

They changed his urinary catheter out last night. It was clogged. I bet that felt nice. No wonder he hasn't had much urine output. I guess its better than having kidney failure.

Martha is leaving tomorrow. Scott is going up this weekend for the UNI game and is staying both nights.

Ill write more when I know more.

Happy Anniversary!!

Today is Martha and dad's 25th year of wedded bliss. I am sure spending it in ICU is AWESOME!!

Dad had surgery today to move the feeding tube. He still had food in his stomach and they had shut the feeding off 8 hours prior to the surgery today, so that kind of tells me that his stomach isnt working very well. Hopefully now that his food can be digested properly. No wonder he has no energy if he really isn't getting any food through him.

His blood count is low and so I imagine that they are going to give him blood. He also has an infection that they think is stemming from the central line he has. They put a new PICC line in yesterday and he is going to surgery AGAIN tomorrow to get the central line removed. They have to get the medical records from RML to see what kind of central line they used. I guess there is quite the variety of them and some of them take special tools to get out.

I really think we are on to something here. He is really sleepy today from surgery, and I am sure he will sleep all day tomorrow too from tomorrows surgery. I will update more as I find out.

ICU

I went to see dad yesterday and the trip ended as an ICU trip. He was very lethargic upon me getting there, which really isn't anything new. I tried to show him some pictures I had done lately and he kept falling asleep. I thought that was normal because usually he is tired in the morning and wakes up in the afternoon. So, Coleman and I just sat next to him waiting for him to wake up. He was in his chair.

At about 3 he motioned that he had to go to the bathroom, so I called the nurse in and thought that they should just clean him up and put him back to bed. He had been in chair since 1030. We left the room and when they were done we went back in and he kept saying that he hurt and it was in his chest. I asked him if it was more of a muscle pain hurt and he said more of a heart hurt. He rated it on a 3. Now, he has had a ton of shoulder pain from it subluxating out of the joint and Mr Aspirin only, is now at 10 mg of vicodin with no relief. He said that his shoulder did hurt, but that wasn't what was making him sick. So, I asked him what he wanted to do and he mouthed that they couldnt help him there and that he wanted to go to the hospital.

In the two years since he has been sick, he has NEVER volunteered to go to the hospital. The LPN and respiratory therapist were in there and they both said that for the past few days he has been in a lot of pain and seemed very sick. They had mentioned it to the charge nurse and she didn't do anything about it. So, they told me that they thought he needed to go in and that I should go to talk to her.

I walked out and simply said, "Hey, my dad really is in a lot of pain and is complaining of chest pain. In all the time he has been sick, he has never asked to go to the hospital, so I think this is worth investigating."

So, she came in and he told her he hurt and wanted to go to the hospital and that he generally felt awful. She took his vitals and they were all fine. So, she said she would call the doctor. She left and then came back in and said that the doctor said no because he didnt have a temperature.

I was like, "What does a temperature have to do with it!!" So, she said I could talk to him about it, so of course I said, "Lets go!"

So, we go call him and she tells him I want to talk to him. So I get on the phone and this not word for word, but you can get the point: "Hi, this is Liza, Im Jims daughter how are you?"

"I am fine, it is nice to meet you!" he said.

"Yes it is. Say, I have been with my dad all day and he is pretty lethargic and says he doesnt feel good, has some chest pain, so I think we need to go to the doctor to get checked out." He says, "Well, he doesn't have a temperature."

.......I said, "So, when does a temperature determine whether or not he needs to go to the hospital or not? I thought chest pain was a good indicator?"

He said, "I dont think he has anything that we can't address at the nursing facility."

"Really? I asked. So, what if he needs a chest Xray??"

"We can do that here, but not until tomorrow!"

So, I said, "Look, the last time I checked, my dad is 62 years old and of complete sound mind, so if he wants to go to the hospital, than he should be able to go to the hospital!"

So, he says, "Well GOD DAMNIT!! Why didnt the DAMN nurse TELL me that he wanted to go to the hospital!!???"

I said, "I thought she did and you told her no!! That is why I wanted to talk to you!"

He said, "Well, that is fine, but you need to realize that due to your dads disease process, he is NEVER going to get better, so you need question yourself how aggressively you want to treat him, because it isn't going to do any good!"

I said,"Oh really?? Than why the hell are we here?? We are here for him to wean from the ventilator and if that is not the case, then we can pack him up and take him right back to Des Moines if you think this is a waste of time!!!"

He said, "Well, from his disease process, I would say he isn't going to get better and you need to keep that in the back of your head."

I said, "What disease process are you talking about??"

He yells, "HIS AML!!!!" I said, "What?? He is a post brain aneurysm with invasive Aspergillus!!!" (AML is leukemia)

He goes, "What god damn patient are we talking about here???"

I said, 'Jim Shoning!!!'

He goes, "Ooohhhhhhh......"

So, the douche bag doesn't even have his patients straight!! So, he wanted to send dad up the street to the crap hospital that the staff told me to not let him go to and I refused. I made them take him to Covenant in Waterloo.

He has a pretty significant pneumonia in his left lower lobe. Which, is from aspirating food. They were pulling tons of it out. He was in the ER for about 40 minutes and they had shot him up to ICU. He had a temp of 101, but no temp according to the nursing home.

We met with his doc and she is a FABULOUS lady. We gave him his complete history and she said that a lot of times when patients are paralyzed, their intestines dont push the food through so it comes back up the esophagus. What they can do is put the tube in past his stomach, so it cant come back up. I truly think that is what has been holding him back all this time. After thinking about it also, we think that is why he was so sick at RML all the time. It was the food coming back into his lungs, which we thought was infection from the Aspergillus. Feeding tube food looks a lot like mucous secretions.

The doctor is having him meet with a gastroenterologist, a rehab doctor and a pulmonologist to get a handle on all of this. I think for once we are actually in great hands.

I just talked to Martha too and he is set up for surgery tomorrow for replacement of the tube. Not a big deal. The pulmonologist also poked his head in and asked Martha some questions and assessed dad. She seems really happy with the doctors there.

Cheer Up Time

Now that dad has some new meds on board, I was talking to a friend of our families yesterday trying to think of some things that might cheer him up. His room is pretty dull and I thought that if anyone wanted to have their kids or grand kids, draw him a picture or a get well note, we can hang it on the wall for him. If any of you want to draw out some words of encouragement, that would be awesome. We can have a get well wall for him. That way he can see how much he means to everyone and will want to keep fighting since its hard to go visit him. Maybe send him a letter of something funny he did or said and why it sticks in your head.

I don't know. Just a few ideas. You can mail them to him at:

Grandview Healthcare Center
800 5th St SE
Oelwein, IA 50662

Or, you can drop them off at his house in the mailbox, or my house or Scott's house. Drop me a line if you need an address.

Thanks everyone!!

Martha Update From Oct. 7th

Got a call from Grandview last night around 10 after I was already in bed and was a little freaked out when I saw the number. They called to tell me they had talked to the doctor and had gotten orders for Tramodal (???) for his pain as the Tylenol and ibuprofen weren’t cutting it. Got there before 8 and was told he slept good all night after having his new drug. Actually he slept all day – but when he was awake he had no pain. So, I guess that was good.

They still got him up today and he was in the chair for about 2 ½ hours. Yesterday it was closer to 4 ½ and even then he didn’t want to go back to bed because it hurt. Today, he didn’t argue at all. And he didn’t give the puppy dog look like he did yesterday when it was too soon to have more meds. It was the same look I use to get when I wouldn’t let him have more sweets. He had never done that to the staff before and they thought it was so cute.

He is also on Macrodantin for UTI and they said urine was Iooking better. Eyes are still gooping up, so he had multiple warm washcloths to his face as I was cleaning his eyes. Since he wasn’t in pain today, I also clipped the nails on the left hand. Today he said it was ok if I did the hand rub and manipulated the joints – yesterday it was a different story. I think the drug really helped as he seemed so relaxed his arms were even down.

I asked him if he has seen Demi the dog since she has been in and out of his room while I was there and he said he had. Asked if he liked seeing her and he said no.

Nothing else to report.

Sunday update - Zane visits grandpa

**Update from Scott**

On Sunday, Kelly and I took Zane up to Oelwein to see his grandpa.

It was Zane's longest road trip and we were hopeful that it would go well. Taking Zane to Chicago seemed like too long a trip for him, and now that Jim is back in Iowa we decided to give it a go.

Kelly's mom came with us to help in the event Zane decided he didn't like being there.

Dad liked seeing Zane. We sat him up in the bed as far as he could tolerate and he just watched Zane play for quite a while. Zane was a bit intimidated by all of the medical equipment and didn't want to get too close, but he did say goodbye to grandpa as we were leaving.

Dad was awake and alert but was having shoulder pain. The staff at the home isn't doing a very good job addressing his comfort needs. They need to be supporting his shoulders better by supporting his elbows. I think PT could also be helping out there, but I'm not sure if they are.

As Liza mentioned in her last post, dad is depressed and seems to be not in the same positive spirits he was in a few months ago.

Hopefully we'll have some improvements soon to give him encouragement to continue the fight towards recovery.