Zoltan, great news! Happy Easter to you and your family, David

Outstanding!

you both are very lucky to have each other.

Update; Apu is doing well. His vital signs are terrific. He needs to move more in order to get all the fliud buildup out of his system. He also needs to do the breathing excercises more in order to get the mucus out of his lungs. He feels very weak, which is understandable, given the procedure he just went through. They didn't move him out of SICU (surgery ICU) today due to the fluid buildup issue. They have tubes inserted into his chest that are draining this fluid. The more he moves around, the more fluids come out. But he doesn't want to move around as much as necessary given that he feels weak, and doesn't likr the pain associated with movement.

The nurses are giving him tough love, and want us to do the same.

We are home for the night and are hoping to get a good night's rest.

Your continued prayers and well wishes are greatly appreciated.

--Z

Well, if the nurses are pushing him, that is great news.

Don't worry, kepping the prayers coming your way.
Happy Easter!!

Zoltan,
Please re-read my response before this one. He's got to move and get good coughs. He should take pain meds enough to allow moving around with twinges of discomfort or up to moderate discomfort with strong coughs, otherwise pneumonia and an additional 7 days in the hosp are what's around the corner.
When you're with him, make him use the pillow for coughs and the breathing practice machine at least once an hour.

Agreed. It's good to hear the nurses are pushing him. Great sign. That means he needs to heed their advice though.

Happy Easter. It sounds as though you family will have a Happy Easter. Things could be MUCH worse.

Continued prayers, of course.

wonderful news!

Peter - understood.

I know how important it is to get the fluid out of his lungs. He has been. listening to the nurses and he is doing his best with the breathing thing, and the cougjhing - but he can always do more. He feels weak, but if he doesn't get this fluid out, he will be weaker and worse.

My mom won't push him, but that's why I'm around now - he will most likely listen to my requests to move and breath in and out deeply more.

This evening, when I called for a night report, the nurse said he was able to cough up a bunch of mucus - so it is breaking up -- we just have to keep on top of it.

-Zoltan

Good news man.

That's great news Zoltan!

I just spent the weekend at the hospital with my mother. She had a severe nosebleed that just wouldn't stop. They had to control the bleeding, and reduce the swelling before they could go in and cauterize the vessel.

That was a minor situation all in all, I can't imagine what you were going through.

It seems we both had a good weekend, all in all. It's just getting over that "hump" that sucks.

I'd rather go grizzly bear hunting with a switch, that see my Mommy sick!

I've been offline all weekend, but thought about Apu & Z-man a lot the past few days...what fantastic news to start the week off!

lm6y: glad to hear your mom's ok. Hang tough for her!

We aren't out of the woods yet. Unfortunately, some complications are manifesting themselves, primarily related to my dad's lungs.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while -- was at the hostipal last night & up all night...

Yesterday morning, my dad was a bit confused as to what was going on around him, and wanted to know when he can get out of the hospital. He wasn't sure if we were in Lakeland, Tampa, or Sarasota. Fortunately, he was still listening to the nurses and taking medication, doing his breathing excercises, and he even was able to walk in the hallway for a good 30 feet! (Baby steps, baby steps). But it is scary to see someone disoriented like that, especially if it's your dad.

They found some fluid in his lungs, and had to use a broncial-something machine to suck out the fluid. They stick a flexible tude down his nose that has a light, a camera, and a suction tube all in one. Amazing to see how the doctor can navigate through the lungs with that device. It was a white mucusy substance they pulled out called spewen, I think. Since my dad was scared, my mom stayed with him during the day, and I stayed with him during the night.

Right now, they suspect that he may be having trouble swallowing, and due to this, fluids are going into his lungs. He hasn't eaten since Friday morning, and that wasn't much either. So this morning, a speech therapist did some tests on him, including feeding him some apple sauce.

After that, while the RT (Respitory technician) was using the breathing machine to work my dad's lungs, they may have pushed him too far. His pulse rate soured, and eventually, his AICD (internal diffibulator) gave his heart a shock to bring everything back in order. Scared my mom and Apu greatly. But his other vitals were ok during this ordeal. His dp was ok, despite the elevated heartrate. Right now, his vitals are ok, but his shoulder was in a bit of pain - and is on some more pain medication.

They suspect that because he is having trouble swallowing due to the soft tissue being damaged from the breathing tube that was used, they suspect the apple sauce went down the wrong pipe, as well as mucus. Throughout the night, though, his lungs seemed to be very clear. Too much of foreign stuff like that can lead to a type of pnemonia. (Forgot the name, sorry).

So they are doing a barrium swallow test -- they will make my dad swallow this substance while doing a live-xray, to see where the stuff goes. Based on that test, they will know how to proceed. It can be just a flap that closes the lungs when swallowing may be swollen due to the breathing tube - that is what they suspect at this point.

While he is still urinating (via a catheter (sp?) ) there is a bit of fluid build up in his body, which is probably also taxing his lungs a bit.

Your continued thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated now especially while my dad's in this tailspin...

Thank you,
-Zoltan.

You've got 'em (they haven't stopped)...don't get discouraged Z-man!

they never stop...

time for some tonglen as well. Thanks for sharing, it's a reminder of the things that are important in life.

Still sending prayers and good thoughts out to your dad.

Quick, short update;
Heart rate has been stabilized via the original medication my dad was on. They are starting to reintroduce his meds - and he was able to eat this afternoon.

I am hoping that tomorrow will yield no new surprises or complications, only progress.

Thanks again for letting me sound off here...

Good night,
-Z

Sounds like things are going well. Great!