Dad had a major setback Wednesday evening. He was having difficulty breathing and said it hurt when he breathed. He was also choking on every bit of food or every swallow to drink. They took him to the St. Joseph Hospital in Mishawaka and he is there now. They had to put him on oxygen. It was a rough night. The doctor diagnosed it as aspiration pneumonia, which is caused by bacteria content in food that went into the lungs. He is still on oxygen today and intraveneous antibiotics. We are wondering if more bleeding has taken place in the brain, but they have not done a CT scan this time around to see. I suspect that his valve that is supposed to keep food and drink from going into the lungs has been damaged not only from the polio, but now from the stroke. He ate a bit of solid food today but can only do mostly liquid. The doctors want him to cough stuff out of his lungs and he started to do that this afternoon, which seemed to help him feel a little better. He still knows who everyone is and can carry on some limited conversation.
Paul and Craig are coming this way tomorrow. Paul and Diane are on vacation and were going to go to her folks first in Illinois, but they will divert to here tomorrow and work out a change of plans.
Please pray for both mom and dad. She is under a great amount of stress.
4 comments:
Jack, I have a feeling the whole family has your family in prayer.
Jack, your mom and all your family are in our prayers. We are sorry to hear of this setback. Give our love to Iris.
Chris and Howard
Jack:
We're sorry to hear of your Dad's setback. I know this is a stressful time for your family.
Dwight & Norma Jean have gone through the same problem at times. Dad in February when he had influenza and pneumonia at the same time. He was on an IV with no solid or liquid food for a week or so, then released from the hospital with orders for a puree diet. It took awhile to schedule a re-evaluation, but was cleared for normal food in 2-3 weeks. It would have been sooner with an earlier appointment.
You're all in our prayers and I'm sure your Dad & Mom are comforted knowing all 3 sons are there.
Jack,
Your whole family is in my prayers and I hope the setback is just temporary.
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