my father is in the cardiac care unit

[simple girl]

Well, I've been away from the forum for a week due to my father becoming critically ill. He is more stable now, but he still hasn't been transferred to a regular floor room.

It's been a rough week. After finding out he was life flighted to the hospital, I flew 900 miles to be with him and support family, etc. Every day I drove my stepmother 1 1/2 hours to the hospital, spent all day there, and then did the drive home again. I came back only b/c I can't expect work to tolerate me being gone indefinitely. Sure do wish we were FIRED already. It sure is tough being away from family during times like this.

He has so many things going on! First, they say his iron levels dropped extremely low (5.0, I think). He's been anemic a long time, and we couldn't get him to switch doctors so that we could get to the bottom of what was causing the anemia. On top of all this his blood was WAY too thin (he was on Coumadin, was "adjusting" the medicine himself, and was reluctant to go for the regular testing you are supposed to have). They assume he was bleeding out internally somewhere but haven't been able to do any gastrointestinal tests yet due to his pulmonary status (risk of having to be put on a ventilator).

He's been diagnosed with a heart attack, pulmonary hypertension, and developed heart failure after all the transfusions. He's still having a lot of trouble breathing (has to be on 10 liters of oxygen or Bipap), but it is getting better slowly. It's been so tough seeing him with all those IV's, etc. However, he definitely looks better every day and is now talking up a storm and back to joking with everyone. It's amazing what today's medicine can do. He's not out of the woods yet, but we certainly are hopeful that he has turned the corner!

Anyways, just a little note to explain why I haven't been around and also make up a good excuse (to the Wednesday weigh-in crowd) for however much weight I've gained via stress eating this past week!

[Notmuchlonger]

Best wishes to you and your family in a trying time like this.

[SteveR]

Simple Girl,
Sorry to hear about your father's poor health. Living far away from family at times like this is very difficult. I went through a similar issue with my father (several times). He had coronary bypasses three times about 10 years apart and ended up with a pacemaker. He did very well in between operations and mowed his own grass (on a steep hillside), walked 3 miles a day and volunteered at a local hospital 3 days a week. He lived 30 years beyond what the doctors said he should have based on the condition of his heart after his first major attack. Modern medicine and surgical intervention made the difference. And that was almost 40 years ago.

The drugs and techniques today are light years ahead of what they were a few decades ago and is getting better each year. Early detection and early intervention make a huge difference in outcomes.

I wish you and your family good luck and a speedy recovery to your father. He has a long road ahead of him but it sounds like he is getting there one step at a time.

[Moemg]

Do not forget to take care of you during this stressful time and hope your Dad gets better !

[bbbamI]

Hang in there. Take good care of yourself.

[Walt34]

Best wishes for you and your family. We had a similar, though not nearly as serious, event several months ago.

[brewer12345]

Good luck to you and your dad. My heart goes out to both of you.

[Dawg52]

Best of luck! It's tough when your father is close by and sick much less many miles away.