january 30

hello to all who are still checking in!
dad is stable, still in the long term acute care hospital, in plano. don't let the website fool you, it is a dismal place and dad is working hard on his therapy so that he can be transferred to the inpatient rehab hospital. we have pretty much decided will be reliant, also in plano. he has to be able to tolerate three hours of therapy a day to meet criteria. he is using up his hospital days and we are, quite frankly, a little worried that if he doesn't meet those criteria soon, the only option (other than taking him home, which will really reverse the progress he has made) will be a nursing home, which we all agree is completely and totally out of the question. OUT OF THE QUESTION.
so here is what we need from you...call, visit, send cards, whatever...but please help us encourage him to PUSH through the pain, which of course is considerable, so that he can move along in his therapy and be able to go to rehab soon. i really do think it is possible, his progress has been tremendous, considering that six weeks ago we weren't even sure he was going to make it. he sits in up in a wheelchair for several hours a day, he is even "standing", that is, assisted by the parallel bars and the physical therapists, but still, standing upright for 5-10 seconds at a time. this helps his breathing and his intestinal ileus so much! so, cheer him on in any way you can.
thanks for hanging in there with us.

namaste.

christene

january 16

so sorry for the long delay...for a few days there we didn't have that much to report, we were just watching and waiting. well, the wait was good...dad has been transferred from medical center of plano to plano specialty hospital, which is a long term, acute care facility that will serve as a bridge between the regular hospital and the inpatient rehab. i think we have chosen that as well, but will visit this week to be sure. PSH is small, and the people are mostly nice, although it is clearly NOT a hospital and some of the staff needed a reality check from carmella about the standard of care that she expected, *ahem*, just be glad you weren't the nurse that didn't check his bowel sounds or take his temperature, alright? alright. as nobody will be surprised to learn, she seems to have sorted them out and they are mostly on their game now. *ahem* we are waiting for a room change, so i won't post the room number. if you want to visit, call dad or text me first, since we have them focusing on getting his strength back and he does a lot of therapy sessions throughout the day. he hates it, and would rather visit, trust me. but he can't go to rehab until he is able to tolerate three hours of rehab a day, and he isn't there yet. please, when you do call or visit, remind him to work hard, try and be positive and encouraging, since he is still in a lot of pain and this rehab is such hard work, it absolutely exhausts him. keep the thoughts and prayers coming, too...i have to add that his kidney, the one that had the huge hematoma on it that wasn't functioning at all...is functioning perfectly. so the nine lives of our hero continues! love you all and will update with more frequency as things move forward.

namaste,
christene

Sorry! Sunday the 8th

I have only been to the hospital twice lately but I can briefly let you all know that dad did end up with a bowel ileus, so he is back to a liquid diet and they are working on fixing that. He is getting stronger though and you can certainly give him a call if you like! He is still in room 619. More tomorrow after I go over myself, I promise! Getting back to work and getting Vincent back into his school routine has taken up a lot of my time but I won't stop updating. Love to all who are still reading,
Christene

OUT OF ICU!!!

dad is out of ICU! best part, for him at least, is that he has a phone and can get calls!

still not a great time for visitors due to infections, and honestly i am not sure what the visiting hours are on the telemetry unit, but here is the main number to the hospital...972-596-6800, and he is in room 619.

so, give him a call, and if he doesn't answer, just assume he is in therapy or resting. more updates later.

love, christene

monday night

hello out there.
well, in the endless and exhausting roller coaster ride that this has been, there were ups and downs today as usual.

downs:
the leg on the injured side is swelling inexplicably. the other leg has clots in it, so it is swollen too. not sure why. they are working on it.
there is insufficient renal output today. when they give him lasix, it works, then without it, the function       declines again. they are also looking into that.

ups:
the antibiotics still seem to be working and he is eating and lucid. i am committed to cooking him at least one naturally prepared, healthy meal a day. his recovery depends on caloric intake, according to the trauma surgeon, but eating that processed and preservative filled crap from the institutionalized hospital kitchen can't be all he eats. so i am his chef right now, which is great. i love to cook and he loves to eat so it works for us both.

i was on kid duty with my brother in law today, so i didn't get to go up there, but i will go tomorrow and give a more detailed update then.

thanks for reading.

love, christene

happy new year...sunday night visit

hello all and thanks for all the comments and support...i read most of them to dad tonight, and he really loves to hear them. the greatest part of the day is that he is SO MUCH MORE lucid today than he has been...the last three days have been really rough and they all seemed to revolve around his multiple infections and their side effects. let me see if i can break it down...see, he has a massive intestinal infection that was causing, or at least contributing to, huge abdominal swelling...remember most of his ribs on his left side are broken, and of course his shattered pelvis is healing, but still awesomely painful...so, all this pressure from a bloated abdomen really hurt, on top of the fact that it was also crowding his lungs (any women reading this who have been pregnant can fully understand this feeling...) which were still full of fluid, (they have since done two procedures to drain TWO LITERS of blood from). he is also septic from a blood infection that seems to have come from an arterial line that has since been removed. plus, he has a bladder infection. and pneumonia. so yeah, he is on massive antibiotics and they seem to finally be kicking in. he is eating soft foods and enjoying them, and like i said, he is so much more lucid.

however, as much as he enjoys it, please don't visit for the next few days, because as you can see, the big guy's immune system is under major stress and even the mildest germs could really beat him down. once he is out of ICU, i am sure he will be much stronger and everybody can come back! he is demanding his phone back, so i will be giving it to him tomorrow. so you may try and call him. however, i hope you let him call you, since we need him to do a bit more resting now that he is finally starting to feel better. you all know dad, ever the performer. he never rests when anyone is in the room, not really.

so, that is it for tonight.

namaste,

christene