Sylviayasgur's fathers surgery tomorrow

[gijanet]

Sylvia,

Sylvia,

I'm sorry y'all had a difficult day, but am so relieved to hear that things are going well overall. PLease don't despair about your dad's apparent mental state just yet. After my dad really boogered himself up in a car wreck and damn near killed himself at 70 (one week after Katie's first heart surgery, so I got to sprint back and forth between two hospital ICUs..........ugh!), he was awful, too, once he started coming to, which was several weeks later. I won't bore you with the details, but it was bad. It did take several months, but he eventually quit being the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I'm sure your dad will snap out of it, too. Many hugs. J.

 

[ILoVeNY25]

So sorry to hear about your dads not so pleasant experience with nasty nurses. It surprises me to see these nurses pretty much taking your fathers actions personally. You would think in there line of work they would know when to chalk it up to WOW, this patient just had heart surgery and perhaps is scared, drugged, tired and all those other things. I hope Dad has better care in his step down unit. Wishing him all the best on his continued recovery and if he's gotta sucker punch more nurses to get some attention so be it.

 

[Phyllis]

So hope today is a better one for your Dad and all of you. Sending best wishes your way.

 

[sylviayasgur]

thanks , thanks, thanks, i love you all!

thanks , thanks, thanks, i love you all!

hi all,
today was a good day. his swanz was removed and his urinary cath was removed and he was moved into a more step down room.
he's on " remote/blue tooth" monitoring now. he's actually totally lucid and aware of what he felt yesterday when he had "icu psychoses" according to the cardio in charge. he jokes about it now and we laugh a lot.
his throat is still sore. they seem to have kept him sedated much longer at this hospital than at the last one (and longer than they kept joey sedated at his hospital).

he has been sitting in a chair, marching in place and now that they've removed all the wires, he'll be doing stairs tomorrow.
he's running a low grade fever but they say that's normal.

one of my big concerns is his coumadin... they are giving him heparin in addition to 5 mg per night. his inr doesn't seem to be going up too quickly. i'm concerned about his chronic afib and mechanical valve. also, i realize they can't administer too much in case of bleeding.

it's amazing to me how we have to advocate for our loved ones.
they were giving my dad insulin b/c studies have shown keeping the sugar levels even helps with healing. i'd never heard of this before. he refused the insulin at one point and they were ok with it. his sugar levels are now fine.

in the end, i'm learning that every hospital/ surgeon/doc does things very differently. patience is of the essence, as is advocating.
live and learn.
makes you appreciate things, other docs and places.

thank you so much for your support, all.
you are my family.
stay well,
sylvia

 

[Nancy]

Oh, Sylvia-

I'm just catching up on your post about the strange (for lack of better words) care your dad has had while in early recovery. Now you know why I am so tough when Joe is in the hospital. I could write a book.

I would bet my bottom dollar that your dad will be just fine when all the surgery and pain meds are out of his body.

I am relieved to hear that he is progressing nicely.

Hoping for slow and steady recovery with no more bumps in the road.

 

[catwoman]

Sylvia:

Glad that your dad is doing better. Anesthesia and painkillers can do a number on the ol' brain, can't they?

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi all,
thanks so much for your support through the rough times. we've met so many other families at the ccu and it seems that my dad is not the only one who was having hallucinations. (3 others_ what a week!).

he is doing really well and walking around and using the bathroom, all very comfortably while he carries his heparin drip with him.
i think they are keeping him only to regulate his coumadin levels, which my mom and i are thrilled about, considering his last surgery and the bleed following it. he's where they can watch him, he's comfy and although eager to go home, is on our same page with this all.

hopefully his coumadin will kick in today. it's been 1.2-1.3 for the last 2-3 days and he is on heparin too. i don't know if i get too worried about this stuff... will keep you posted.
thanks again for all of your support. it's helped so much.
hugs, sylvia

 

[Nancy]

Sylvia-

I got a call from my daughter yesterday. She has a friend whose mother was in the ICU for a while. She told me about ICU psychosis. Look it up on Google. It is something that happens frequently with folks in the ICU due to meds, illness, and the total disorientation of the situation. It goes away once things get better.

Joe is going through some of this.

On a lighter note, yesterday, he told me that he saw a "kitty cat" in his room. I asked him what it looked like and what color it was. He told me sort of "zoo" color. I asked him what the name was, and he said "sh*thead"

I thought that was pretty funny.

He was quite a bit better when he got to the regular room.

So, I'm sure things will improve soon for your dad.

 

[mtkayak]

Not to worry about the CICU phycosis, it happens to a lot of people. I've heard cases of people waking up, not knowing where they are and they get very defensive when somebody tries to touch them. "They come out swinging" so to speak. Imagine waking up with all the wires attached to your body and knowing the person is trying to help you, instead, you think they are trying to hurt you. I any case, I'm glad the surgery went well for your dad. I hope he has a speedy recovery.

 

[annie10]

My sister's husband had OHS, and woke up in ICU certain he was at a drive-thru restaurant. He kept insisting my sister order him a cheeseburger!

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi all,
what a funny story, nancy! my dad is feeling fine. we've been laughing about stories and his hallucinations.
in fact, his hand was very swollen for two days and we figured out he must have punched either the side of the bed or (he insists he punched) one of the nurses!
he's actually ready to go home, except for the coumadin loading. that's moving slowly.

i'm still having trouble understanding this coumadin thing. he started taking 5 mg once a day 3 days ago (i think today is the third or fourth day). he has been receiving heparin (700 units/hr., 25,000 units in 250 cc D5W___ if anyone knows what that means).
his INR is steady at 1.25. the nurses say that his PTT has been rising (i think it was up to 36 or 39 last night).
i don't know what to make of these numbers, but as far as i can see, at 1.25 he is not protected, considering he has a mechanical valve and is in chronic afib.

please, if anyone knows more, i could use some advice or reassurance. the nurses claim that his coumadin is up to 1.25, but that his heparin levels (PTT) are protecting him. i thought that if his blood was anticoagulated sufficiently, i'd be able to see that in his INR (1.25) count. am i missing something? i hope they are right at the hospital. i worry about this.

other than the coumadin, he's up, around, lucid, happy and looks and feels great and no pain meds!!!

hope some of you can help with this. thanks so much for all your support and handholding.
you are the best.
be well, sylvia

 

[bvdr]

Sylvia, as long as your dad is on heparin he is being "protected" even through his INR is still low. The PT/INR only reflects warfarin and heparin shouldn't be showing up in the number. a PTT is the test for heparin. This part of his stay might actually be going fine.

When his INR is higher than the heparin can safely be discontinued.

 

[sylviayasgur]

thanks so much, betty!
i was a bit confused and i think i understand more clearly now.
i'm glad my dad is in the hospital and they are regulating his coumadin. he is certainly ready to go home, but they are watching his levels and he will be assured of leaving without any complications or bleeds (like his last surgery).
thanks so much for your help.
be well, sylvia

 

[EVELYN]

Hi Syl

Sorry I haven't posted much, but I haven't been around much, either. Just wanted you to know I'm glad your Dad did just fine with his surgery and he will be included in my prayers along with everyone else here, especially Rossman and Nancy.

Glad everything is going fine.....he'll be out soon.

Evelyn