Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter.  Dad is doing well, and it was so great to have him celebrating with us this year. It wasn't hard to beat last year's Easter spent in the STICU conference room.   

The kids were happy to hunt eggs out in the yard; rather than the hospital's ground floor lobby.  :)

Home

Mom and Dad made it back home last night around 11. The plan for a Friday discharge did not work out after Dad's fistulas were not draining properly. That was resolved on Friday and after another night of observation Duke agreed he could go home on Saturday. Saturday turned into quite a waiting game, but they made home (just significantly later than they hoped).

All's Well

Surgery went well, and Dad made it back to his room. He was nauseous, but so happy he could talk. Thanks to everyone for the prayers.

Out

I don't know how it went, but it's finished and he's been in recovery since ~2:30. Dr. Duke was going to go in a cauterize some more of the area around the fistulas which is probably why it took a little longer. That's just speculation... maybe it was always going to take a few hours. Mom's heard that he should be back in the room in 30 minutes.

Surgery #96

Dad will go to surgery today at 11. Keep him in your prayers, and I update later when he's out.

Waiting

THe waiting continues.  The surgery to close the trach area is finally set.  It will be done Thursday at 11.  Dad will stay at least until Friday (hopefully not any longer).  He's tired of being there, but glad that a plan is finally in place.  This hospital is kind of like a jail cell... it's a lot easier to get in than to get out.  :)

Moved to the Floor

Well this stay has turned out to be a little longer than we hoped. He's moved out of IMU and back to Jones 6.  The room is pretty small, but again we're hoping for a pretty short stay.  Duke did a bedside procedure the other day to cauterize some vessels around the fistulas, and the bleeding has completely stopped.  At this point they are trying have the trach surgery done while he's there.  The area where the trach formerly was is scheduled to be closed on 3/31.  This procedure will be done at Hermann and require an overnight stay. Now that the bleeding is no longer causing concern, it would be nice to just have this done and not have to return anytime soon.  Hopefully it will all work out.