Friday, July 6, 2012

Just Breathe

I came down to Mississippi last Monday so my dad could have a vein procedure. His veins had become blocked and he needed to have one side cleaned out. He had already had the left side done 2 weeks prior.
He had been on some blood thinners and he stopped taking them so they could do the same thing to his right side. Well come a few days before the surgery the left side started bothering him again. His leg started hurting and his foot started going to sleep and causing him alot of pain. He had me take him to the hospital on Sunday July 1st, the day before the surgery.
They couldn't find a pulse in either of his feet. The sonogram of his veins showed a complete blockage of his left leg in the groin area. In fact of the 3 veins that run from your knee down, only 1 of those is still working. His heart doctor said the other 2 quit working years ago.

So they do the surgery on Monday morning. Me and a family friend went down to Jackson from Winona. The surgery went well. He was in alot of pain but doing good.

At 2:30 in the morning on Tuesday, they call, he coded and was bleeding from his abdominal walls. He needed 4 units of blood. I got to the hospital as soon as I could. He coded again at 9:30 again and they had to do CPR. They got the bleeding in his abdomen stopped finally. But he was unconscious and on a vent. On Wednesday his heart began racing over 200, so they had to shock him. It happened again yesterday but he came out of it on his own.

It is now day 6 of him being in ICU and day 5 of him being unconscious. He has a team of doctors working on him. His heart doctor, a pulmonalogist, kidney doctor, neurologist and more. They started dialysis this morning because his kidneys seem to be failing and his numbers dropped dangerously low last night. His neurologist is cautiously optimistic right now. His defensive reflexes are good. He has been opening his eyes today, but he doesn't look around just stares at the ceiling.

It has been a long long long 6 days. We really thought we were going to lose him Tuesday. But he is still hanging on.  I called my husband and had him drive down from Missouri to be with me. I never knew just how many friends my dad had until now. He has had a constant stream of visitors coming to see him. Many people I hadn't seen since I was a little girl. Family that I hadn't seen in years have come to see us.

I am hoping and praying that he will completely recover and wake up. He has too much to live for to just give up.

Please tonight if you pray, say a prayer for my dad, William. Or send us good thoughts and vibes.