Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Hard Hit

So my dad had his CT scan today. We waited in the waiting room while he had it done. We called a couple of times but 1st it was delayed and then it was 'we just got back so give us a few minutes'. Finally the nurse came out and said that my dad was back but they were going to need a little more time because they decided to put in the catheter for dialysis. That way when he starts treatment tomorrow he's ready to go. We of course asked about the CT scan results and he said they weren't back yet but he thought they looked ok (but he gave us the 'unofficial' disclaimer).

Not 5 minutes later the doctor himself came out and said 'I'd like all of you to come in and see the results for yourself. It's not good.' My heart sunk. It was me, Little Brother, Uncle Ray, Aunt Linda, Pete and Kristin. Kristin stayed out in the waiting room. The rest of us followed the doctor in...in silence.

He showed us the pictures and his left lung is full of infection. They have been suctioning him and out of the tube comes this red/brown stuff. The doctor said it's blood, puss and dead pieces of his lung. At best he said that he'll lose 2/3 of his lung. He already has lung disease and is already on oxygen 24/7. We asked a few questions - got few answers.

There is some fluid around his lung. They did a procedure to go in and attempt to drain the fluid. There wasn't much to drain but they left a small tube inserted so that it'll continue to drain what it can.

After a few hours he had to be restarted on the Levo because his BP dropped. They also had to increase his oxygen to 70% (up from 50%).

It was a rough day.

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