Oh boy, he did it this time...
 

I had an interesting week...

Feb 27th in the middle of the night, I got a couple of cryptic text messages from a number in Thailand that my father was not well.

I called the number back and it was a fellow Canadian that my dad has talked about but I have never met.

Feb 28th, I spend much of the morning on the phone trying to get a hold of my dad and figure out where in Chang Mai he was.

Figured out he has had a major Rheumatoid Arthritis episode and is unable to walk, has fallen and hit his head, is refusing treatment at the hospital, and the hotel doesn't want him there either. I reached out to the Canadian consulate and they visited the hotel and were able to fill in some of the holes in the story.

Dad's friend agrees to travel from Bangkok to Chang Mai to see him and bring him back to Bangkok. Depending on dad's condition, I would travel to Bangkok to get him and bring him home.

Dad's friend arrives at dad's hotel and finds him incoherent and unable to walk. My brother and i booked our flights for the next day.

Dad and his friend hire a driver to take them back to Bangkok (13 hour drive). It cost 13,000 baht which is about $600.

Dad's friend gets dad into same hotel as him, we arrive 24 hours later.

I got dad back on his prednisone and other meds and start trying to piece together what happened. I visited the doctors he saw in Bangkok and the surgeon that did his Carpal Tunnel surgery. He was fine when they last saw him and even gave him a 'fit to fly' authorization on his discharge papers. Of course, they wanted me to check him in but wouldn't release him until he was 100% which could take weeks for the RA flare up to clear. Dad was completely opposed to this.

I got him so that he got his faculties back, eating again, and able to walk with assistance. I called the airline and spoke with their medical team about Dad's condition and they told me that as long as he could breath and was travelling with assistance (my brother and I), he was ok to fly. They also told me that should he need it, there is oxygen on the plane... this was a weird thing to say at the time.

We flew out of Bangkok on Mar 6th. The first flight to Hing Kong went very well. The porter at Bangkok took dad from the taxi right to his seat on the plane. Very helpful and no charge (we tipped him generously).

The porters in Hong Kong were very disorganized but we got dad on the plane just fine.

About 5.5 hours into the flight, I noticed that my dad's breathing was shallow. I checked his blood sugar ad gave him an insulin shot (prednisone makes your sugars really high so dad has insulin to keep this in check). His breathing improved and I monitored his condition. 3 hours later, I spoke with the flight attendants about getting him oxygen if I needed it. They said, not problem - we have lots. It looked like my EMR training might get put to use...

I decided to put dad on oxygen for the last 3 hours of the flight. An ER nurse and a GP on the flight checked out dad and agreed that I was on the right path. They also agreed that the respiratory problem was likely not related to dad's rheumatoid arthritis. Dad's lungs sounded clear so probably not pneumonia.

The oxygen stabilized dad's condition and when we landed, we had dad pulled off the plane by paramedics and take to hospital. That was 2 days ago. Blood tests, X-Rays, CT Scan, and dad has a massive lung infection. He is working with an infectious disease doctor now. I guess the prednisone compromises your immune system so dad probably shouldn't have even been in a place like Thailand in the first place.

I am hanging around with my dad in Vancouver until he is released. It is cold at home and our cows have started to calve (my wife is not impressed). Our little rescue cost my brother and I over $10,000. Dad is alive but far from out of the weeds.

Who needs this?

Wow. I guess the bright side is that it could have been much worse.

Fingers crossed and prayers away for your dad to have a speedy recovery.

Sounds like a scary story but good for you and your brother taking care of him.

Damn! I feel for your dad as well as you and your brother.

You took a big risk to both yourself, your dad and the other passengers bringing him on flights with an infection. I'm sure there's guidelines and laws against it.

Sorry for your troubles. You're a good son.

We did not know he had an infection. The only symptoms he had prior to taking off were his Rhumetoud Arthritus symptoms. The breathing problem became evident on the plane.

I also cleared his travel with the airline medical department before we booked the flights. I went through all of the correct motions here.

I realize that he has ben expensive and a lot of trouble...but, I can also observe that he (or someone) seem to have sired and raised a couple of pretty darned amazing sons to have saved his bacon so skillfully and well. Good on him and both of you. Pretty darned awesome, my hat is off.

I would bet that deep down, wife is really impressed. I am sure she knows a real man when she sees one.

Hummm, your dad was/is on Prednisone? I was on it for a while and it really messed me up even though my joints did feel a bit better. I went to see my heart specialist after several months on this stuff and he said "get off the Prednisone or it will kill you"! So I did and it took several months to burn it out of my system.

I hope your dad recovers!

+1000!

Unclebilly YOU DID WHAT YOU HAD TO DO! Your daddy should be proud and grateful to have two sons like you two.

I am assuming he had the surgery over there? For all the replies in the previous thread no one predicted that outcome.

Sounds like it's a good thing you flew over.

Yup. He did.

I don't think any of this is related to the surgery. It went well and things healed up nicely.

He might have picked up the bug I the hospital though.

My thoughts exactly.

Well done and hoping that Dad gets better.

This is ridiculous, he had pneumonia, it would not rub off on anyone.
Quite certain you are mistaken


Way to keep your dad on this side of the grass though, good work.

Your Dad. He needed this. And he probably said the same about you at least a couple of times when you were a kid.

I'll say a Prayer for him. And you too. You did a good thing. Give yourself some credit.

Sorry to be blunt:

1). Dad seems physically borderline but coherent and able to sign legal documents at this time?
Now is the time to verify what he wants to contribute to in life.
(His wife, his twenty other mistresses, you, brother, sister, space monkey, whatever, those are his final wishes.)
Video record the important stuff tastefully when you can.

2). Does dad have a Notarized Will on file with legal copies distributed?
Unsealed copies may be invalid. The Law is complex.
Probate Court drama plus new Attorney costs may suck up all of your dad's estate into a giant sinkhole in the earth.
It is then gone forever, unless HIS OWN MONEY is important to HIS OWN GRANDCHILDREN.
Court probate disbursement takes a year or more, even when simple.

3). Does dad have a designated Power Of Attorney and a Do Not Resuscitate order on file?
See #1 and #2 above.
The state will gobble up everything in sight while you the heirs are in pain and vulnerable.
They will not stop. Be warned. It is government.

4). Double check with the family attorney now.
So you have time later.


You are are good man and good son, Unclebilly.
Take care of the important stuff.
Then take care of yourself.
Plan ahead now to have the freedom and feel grief and pain later. To feel human.
Even though that is considered 'illegal' in some aspects of law.

Update on dad...

He is still in the hospital. He had pneumonia big time. His right lung was totally full of fluid, the left lung was partially full. They have him a bronchioscope yesterday and removed the fluid.

His O2 sats have improved to 96-98 on 2-3 L/min of oxygen with a nasal cannula. He can now go 15 minutes without oxygen before his O2 sats drop to 85% - it was under 5 minutes when we brought him in.

We will find out tomorrow what is going on.

Tests so far:

Blood, urine, Chest X-ray, CT scan, bronchioscope, ultrasound (not on lungs).

Dad is confused and still has it in his head that he is there for his RA flare up. He keeps saying that he's not on oxygen anymore despite the tubes sticking up his nose.

John - we are meeting with a social worker tomorrow and we will be working toward the POA and Substitute decision maker paperwork. We will also be setting up home care, etc.

Uncle,
I hope your Dad gets better. It is very possible all the toxins are playing tricks in his bio-chemistry so he's not himself, I know because my Dad unfortunately has had a week from hell.. :-(

Update... I am on my way to the hospital to pick up dad. He will be released this morning and has been given an authorization to fly.

The plan is for dad to come stay at my brother's place for a few days and then we will bring him home (600 miles away) and get home care services set up per his wishes. The nightmare is almost over.