We went to see my dad tonight again and they just got him new lines for his dialysis machine so its a go once again to get him set up. Nurse Mic is a good nurse, she is not super friendly but she does her job and does it well. She told my mom sorry about last night, my mom had tried three times last night to call to check up on my dad and she kept missing Nurse Mic. But she told my mom my dad had a good night last night so that made me and my mom smile. I told my dad, "You better have a good night tonight for Nurse Mic." He is still not really too responsive but he does respond when you move him around. We told him that people want him to blink his eyes again and mouth his words like he did a couple of weeks ago. So this update is to let you know that Mr. V is still hanging in there and hopefully tomorrow they will have him back on his dialysis. As soon as we know about his platelets it will be up on the blog. Today their concern was about getting his line replaced for his dialysis. Thank you again for your prayers and thoughts.
As I wait here to see my dad again at 8:00 pm when visiting hours are open again, we talked to a woman whose grandson is in here too. He has been here as long as my dad. He was shot while walking with his sister from a party and both unfortunately got caught up in crossfire. They were innocent bystanders. His sister was treated and released. He was not. He is in STICU like my dad, he is only 25 years old. I hear this story and it breaks my heart just like when people hear my dad's story it breaks their heart. I pray for his recovery too and all the people who are here. They were just living life when tragedy struck. Just like my dad who just thought he was going to run his errands on Wednesday morning and probably call me for our weekly lunch plans, her grandson was just walking home thinking nothing probably had a good time and then all of a sudden life is no longer the same for him. I feel for this family and we know each other's pain. Little by little the people we love who are hurt get better but sometimes they get worse, but we still pray and hope for recovery in the long run. I hope her grandson gets better just like she hopes my dad gets better. We just talk to each other almost everyday and its good to know there are people who do not give up hope and we won't. My dad and her grandson have overcome a lot so far and now its just a waiting game of when they recover because they will recover. I am very thankful that we have family and friends who love us and so glad to meet these people in the waiting area who have been kind to us. I know this is not a normal post but its just my deep thoughts by Delena Martello. I promise the next post will be about my dad's update but I just thought I would share about what we encounter everyday waiting in the STICU, new stories new people same tragic situations. We only pray and hope for the best because that is all we can do.
I had to work today so my post is late I know. My mom saw my dad this morning and said he was still the same, stable and hanging in there. Nurse Jennifer III was concerned because my dad is platelets level is low and they have to keep giving him platelets. A hematologist will come by and look at my dad and see what could be going on and what needs to be done to raise his platelet levels. They had to take him off his feeding tube again because they just wanted to not risk his veins constricting because they have him back on blood pressure medicine even if it is a low dose. Well since 11:30 am they have had him at Interventional Radiology (IR) so they can locate a vein in his lower area to put the dialysis line there. Its better to do it there then his neck because there is too much of a risk of infection and other complications. As of now he is not back from IR and we hope they did not lose Mr. V again. I will update you on his status once we find out from the doctors what happened. Oh I am about to go see my dad. Hold on to your horses we will be right back after these messages.
Update: He is back from IR but they couldn't find a vein in his lower area so they had to put it back in his neck again but a new catheter to the same vein. It works there so they are going to keep it there and re-evaluate later. We went in there as they were trying to hook up the dialysis machine to my dad. It was not happening, the machine was not working right. It had to be rebooted twice and then errors happened. Last time this happened they just got a new machine but I think this nurse is stubborn and is like YOU WILL WORK DAMN YOU, she didn't say that but I could sense it in her frustration. All during this time she had managed to be nice to me and my mom that is talent. She is hilarious too, she makes us laugh. So Nurse Angela is a Nurse Funny Pants. She has a good sense of humor. Nurse Funny Pants told us that the hematologist came by and ordered labs for my dad so they can evaluate his situation and see what they can do. So we are just waiting, we probably will not see dad until later but I will update you guys if we here anything different. So far he is hanging in there. Thank you again for your prayers and thoughts.
We went to see my dad again and his curtain was closed, my heart raced a little. Dr. Tanner (not related to the Full House Tanner Family) aka Dr. Smooth came out and talked to us. He h
as such a soothing voice that he can tell you "Hey your hair is on fire" and you will be so soothed by him you just say "yeaaaah" in a dreamy voice and let your hair stay on fire. He is smooth like silk not abrasive like Dr. Bones when he talks to you. He is very compassionate and talks in a low soothing voice. He told us that he was just trying to find another vein for his dialysis but he is a big guy so they cannot find a vein. The line is currently in his neck and its getting to be time to change it to another location to prevent infection. They want to move the line near the groin area. My mom asked about his kidneys but at this time he couldn't answer us because they are just still monitoring him for bleeding, he said right now we are just glad he stopped bleeding. Like I have said before they focus on one thing and the most important and fix that and then move on. Bleeding Internally tends to rank very high on the list. So yes we are thankful that he has stopped bleeding and we just want him to rest and have his body repair itself. Dr. Smooth said tomorrow they will probably try again to move his IV line for his dialysis again and do it with Interventional Radiology (IR). They will have an XRAY screen over his leg and groin and try to locate a vein by injecting it with iodine so they can see it and then they can guide the needle to that vein. He was not sure if they are going to do that just yet, but first they will try again to find a vein without doing IR.
His Nurse, Nurse Angela, was really nice and she dad has not given her any trouble and I said good, that he needs to be boring. We stayed and watched her brush his teeth, he DID NOT LIKE IT, he looked like a mad 3 year old being forced to brush his teeth, like uugh no get away from me were his expressions, we laughed. Nurse Angela said, "Hey you gotta have good breath for your ladies here!" We are glad he is slowly responding, he is not 100% but its coming back which is good. We told him his Texans FAILED but the Cowboys won. I know my dad was like "CATORCE" in his head when we told him about the Texans. My dad yells out catorce which means 14 in spanish so he won't cuss. It kind of sounds like a spanish curse word when you say it just right, go ahead and try it sometime. Yeah but today was a good day, an operation that went well and no bleeding. Tomorrow is another day. We take it day by day and cherish the good boring days. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support!!!
Dr. Bones, the thoracic surgeon, called my mom to say the surgery went well and that the area that he was bleeding at has stopped bleeding and he looks the best she has ever seen him. She was still concerned about his kidneys so that is another bump in the road. Its okay my dad can conquer this too. We saw my dad and he looked fine, he was sleeping still from all the anesthesia. The nurse said his blood pressure was a little low so they are going to put him back on the blood pressure medicine but a very very very low dosage until it gets back up. So Mr. V is looking good. Earlier my Tia Sylvia's reverend and his wife came by and visited my dad and prayed over him. I am not really a spiritual person like my dad but I know this really did lift his spirits. Earlier in the week we had Father Tim pray the sacraments for the sick and anointed for my dad. My mom keeps my dad's rosary with her and holy water from Lourdes, France. I really think science and faith can work together. If my dad's spirit gave up he wouldn't have been able to survive so much right now. If it hadn't have been for the awesome care by his doctors and nurses too he wouldn't have been able to survive. I know logically this makes no sense but what does in life really. All I know is my dad and people who have faith he will survive and the doctors and nurses have not given up on him, has made him stronger. Thank you all for the prayers and thoughts for my dad's recovery.
We got here at 7:30 am because my dad was going to have surgery around 8:00 am. They are going to take out his pressure packs and close him up. Dr. Bones will re-evaluate his bleeding and see for sure if it did work. As I said yesterday was a boring day just little baby steps going forward. We can only pray he makes baby steps going forward today. He went in around 8:30 am we think to the OR (still a good sign they think he is stable enough to go to an OR). So we are just waiting until Dr. Bones calls us or talk to us in the waiting area. God willing he gets better as my dad would say. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts.
Sorry Folks for the late post but today was a day of rest and errands. We saw my dad this morning and he was doing okay. He was already off of his blood pressure medicine so his body could take over maintaining it and it was very stable, it still was a little low but slowly going up. This is a good sign. He is also on a feeding tube once again and they are also going to ween him off other medications that are for nourishment and just use the feeding tube as his sole source of nourishment. Tomorrow they are going to remove his pressure packs and close him up so hopefully that will go well. They are still testing him for everything because he is still critical but Mr. V is slowly going in the right direction once again. So the late post, reason. Well my mom and I went to their house out in Cypress and we got more things from the house for her and me. She has good neighbors who put away her newspaper out of site and water her plants. She got some things like bills, medicine, etc. Just because for a little our world has stopped doesn't mean the bills stop nope they don't care they still collect from you no matter what your situation. "Oh yes ma'am that is unfortunate for you about your husband but okay are you going to pay this or not because we are about to cut off your power." Awesome, only in America. My mom gave me her king size bed sheets for my new king size bed (thanks Murphy family)! Yeah another adventure in how after a days of spending the night at the hospital and just wanting to crash at home in your bed and your husband says "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeey we got this bed and we need to set up and also dismantle our queen size bed and yeaaaaaaah are you and your mom ready for some furniture work?" Ugh we did it and it looks nice but yeah I was tired. My mom too but she ordered me today after we did our run to Cypress to go home and rest. I did because my dad was having a good day today. Me and my mom forget we need to take care of ourselves too. I know it will be harder for me to convince my mom to do the same and rest but I bet when my dad gets better she will do it. I know with injuries as serious as my dad has sustained their will be ups and downs but right now he is up and we cherish that so much. We thank you so much for your prayers and thoughts.
My dad has his surgery today and according to Dr. Bones it went well. He was hardly bleeding at all but she still replaced his packs and kept it open. They are going to take them out Sunday and close him up. Now they are focused on getting his kidneys back to normal. They are still unhappy right now but they are trying to pin point what are causing his kidneys to be unhappy. My dad is still critical as the doctor debbie downer remind us every day. We just hold onto those good days as long as we can even if its just a boring day of him being stable that is a great day. My dad is still making those baby steps to recovery and we are so happy. We thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers.
Thanks to my Tia Elma and Tia Maizie, we were able to have a decent night rest at my house. My aunts volunteered to stay the night at the hospital so we could go home. My mom got a call from Dr. Bones to say my dad's surgery is scheduled for 11:00 am or 12:00 pm and that he was still bleeding, not as much as before, but that she was going to take out the pressure packs and pack him again. This time she said she wouldn't close him, she would leave him open. She also said his kidneys are operating at a 20 and in a normal person they need to be at 100. So his kidneys are not doing so hot or as Nurse Scott said, "His kidneys are not happy." We decided to get going to the hospital to see my dad before they take him to surgery. But first breakfast, hey food is important to me because I love food.
After an adventure to try and find breakfast tacos because my favorite place, brothers tacos, was closed today hey who said they could be closed today. So we had to ride through my east side hood to find Alamo Tamale Company so we could get some breakfast tacos, yeah score we found some, delish! Well we got to see my dad this morning I tried to sneak in a taco so I can place it under his nose so maybe this well help him get better. Hey nothing like a good chorizo and egg to get you going, am I right, pos I am! Well no food is allowed boooooooo. So anyways we talked to Nurse Scott.
While we were their talking to dad my mom said "Today is an important day, Roel." Nurse Scott said, "Everyday is important." Its true everyday is sacred to us that my dad is still here. Nurse Scott explained to us that my dad is still bleeding and that his hemoglobin count went down from last night but they decided to take some action. They were going to give him a medicine called factor 7 which is something that we produce naturally to help with all the blood functions. However in order to use the factor 7 they needed to give him blood, platelets, and plasma. Also to help his kidneys they need his blood flow to improve too and also they are thinking maybe other factors contributing to his kidneys not being "happy" They are testing his adrenal gland for cortisol that we produce that helps the kidneys function and if those levels are low it causes kidneys to not function. However they are giving him a steriod of cortisol to help his adrenal gland which in turn will help his kidneys. I am learning so much about the body. Wow it all depends on one another and if one thing breaks down everything is affected. They have to keep everything in my dad in balance medically as best as they can but its still not as good as what we do naturally. IT WRINKLES MY BRAIN! You think WOW! So I tell my dad everyday they are doing what they can and the rest is up to his spirit and body to get better. I know this post is long and you are probably like skimming but at least know this. It will be a long time before he is back to old Mr. V but the doctors, nurses and my dad are doing their best to keep him going and he has not given up. We love you all and thank you again for your prayers and thoughts.
When we went to see my dad around 11 am the doctors were doing their rounds. Luckily we caught them right when they came to my dad and I kept overhearing "good, good, great" and it was Dr. Hammond saying it. He spoke to us and said he is responding well to the packing and that his bleeding has decreased significantly and he is pretty stable. He did remind us of course he is still in critical condition but that he is much better today then yesterday. They already are weening him off some medicines so his body can start doing more on its own. He had been heavily sedated yesterday so he is coming off of that today but he is still not really responsive but he is aware of things. So far so good today. He is still not out of the woods but he is taking tiny steps in the right direction and thats all we ask for. We can be patient as long as he is getting better. We will take those little baby steps any day of the week. Of course my mom said to him this afternoon, "Looking good Mr. V." He really does look good.
They are going to perform surgery tomorrow and remove the pressure packs and reassess what else can be done for my dad and see if it has stopped the bleeding if not they may pack him again, not sure. Of course Dr. Bones will be performing the surgery and it will be around noon or early afternoon. He has come so far so I know he can do this.
Again its a great Thanksgiving Day and the Cafe Herman turkey meal wasn't half bad, it reminded me of public school days of getting dressing served in an ice cream scoop ahhhhhhhhhhh memories. It wasn't my mom's dressing but its okay as long as I got to spend it with my dad. I hope the Cowboys win today because it would make my dad happy (yes Houston people my dad loves the Cowboys but really he will always be an Oiler's Fan, hell he just loves Texas teams!). We love you all and thanks for your prayers and thoughts.
We saw my dad this morning and Nurse Scott reported he had a better night then the last couple of nights. He is doing a tiny bit better, but we will take tiny bit better then way worse. He is still bleeding but its not "pure" blood as Nurse Scott said. He said its some blood and other fluids which is fine if it was blood then they would be concerned. His bleeding has slowed down quite a bit and like I said its not just blood its other fluids that need to be drained out of his body. His platelet count is still down but its slowly improving, where as before they tried and tried to replenish and the count would go no where. We missed Dr. Bones this morning she was looking for us to tell us about my dad but we had went down to Cafe Herman for free breakfast. But Dr. Bones has been checking on my dad and has been since yesterday she maybe insensitive in her remarks but she is good at her job just like the character Dr. Bones. So my dad is still hanging in there and I am thankful for that, it is going to be a good Thanksgiving after all. Happy Thanksgiving everybody! We love you all and thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
Well goodnight folks, today was a trying day and my mom and I are exhausted. We are still here being strong for my dad. It has definitely been a roller coaster of love as we go through ups and downs and ups and downs and ups. We are praying that my dad goes up and keeps going up. We are again at Hotel Herman aka Memorial Herman STICU waiting area. The beds are a bit uncomfortable if you define bed as a barely padded chair and a crappy ottoman. As I said before we are here for my dad and I really believe he knows we are near. We tell him that. Tonight I sang to him the song he would sing to me when I was little "You are my sunshine." I told him mom and I are not ready for our sunshine to go away. We are all not ready for our sunshine to go away. We thank you for your prayers and thoughts.
My family is here at the hospital with us and we are thankful they have taken time out of their busy schedules to check on us. Especially since its thanksgiving it means so much. Yesterday my mother in law and sister in law came and it really helped just to visit and laugh about my husband of course. When we get emails or comments of encouragements helps us too. We just feel so loved and my dad feels it too. Like I said he is the underdog but he is down but not OUT! They are looking at him round the clock hoping he will turn around and we hope so to. Having family and friends who are supportive have helped so much. We love all of you please keep up with thoughts and prayers.
This blog is very very hard to type. After my dad's surgery they had hoped the bleeding would stop or slow down and that medicine would eventually stop it. The internal bleeding has not stopped and they cannot give him anymore blood or blood products because that would be toxic to his body. Dr. Bones said that she doesn't want him to go to surgery again because it would be a strain on his body. She essentially said that he is bleeding to death because his body is not healing. She also said there is one last resort procedure that may help it will give him a 30 to 40 % chance of survival. She said that they are going to pack him. They are going to open up his incision they made this morning for his surgery and pack it with gauze. Essentially its like applying pressure to a wound to stop the bleeding. She said they will pack him and then after two days remove it and see if that helps if not well they are not sure what else to do. We had a chaplain pray with us to help the doctors and help my dad. I told dad he cannot give up the doctors are doing their best to save him and he just needs to help them too. I want my dad to prove them wrong and say in your face doctors. I want my dad to turn around and get better and give it all he has got. I love him so much he is my only dad. I cannot imagine my life without him. My mom cannot either they have been married for 35 years and I told dad he had to make it to 50 years so we can throw them a big party. I am not ready to let him go, I never imagined this would happen when I was 30. He needs to make it to see his future grandchildren and see me get old and wrinkly too. I know this post is very sad but this is how I feel right now because we are trying hard to be strong but there is a breaking point. I didn't want to sugar coat it but my dad is getting worse but I know this is a good hospital and they are trying everything they can do to help him. I will keep you all posted as soon as we find out about him after they do his procedure. Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers.
My mom and I were half asleep in the waiting area when we heard "Villarreal!" Dr. Bones was looking for us. She sat down and said that the surgery went well and they discovered a lot of blood was clotting around his lungs (blood settled around his lung and was not draining well) and they have stopped the bleeding. However she said he may bleed again because he was not clotting so well. They are giving him medicine to help with the clotting. She said that my dad is a tough guy and the fact that he survived surgery is a big deal. I know in his condition surgery is a big big risk, its a big risk with a healthy functioning person. She had just checked on him and said that he was doing fine and because of the removal of the clotting he was able to breathe better. My dad is a tough guy like I said he is El Tigre. I told my dad yesterday, dad you made it this far you can do this. He is doing it and he amazes the doctors as he does it. We love you Mr. V and people are praying up a storm that you recover. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers, we love you all.
We had left the hospital at 9:30 p.m. When we arrived to my house to have a restful sleep, Dr. Bones called my mom at 10:45 pm to say my dad needed surgery and she needed to come back to sign consent forms. Dr. Bones explained my dad was getting too much blood product i.e. plasma and platelets and that too much could be toxic to his body and cause him to die. My mom and I drove back to the hospital and here we are spending the night again. Dr. Valdez spoke to us about the operation, he said that my dads broken ribs are very sharp and they are against veins and arteries and every time he has been moved those ribs have been cutting some veins and arteries. Their main goal is to stop the bleeding and tie up the veins and arteries that have been cut. They are doing exploratory surgery to do this and make sure there is no other bleeding elsewhere. We asked if they were going to fix the ribs while they were at it, he said no because their main goal was to stop the bleeding. My mom signed the consent form and they were on their way to get my dad disconnected and sent off to OR. I want my dad to make it through this surgery he has too. I know everything has taken a toll on him but he has to fight. I know I am in a good hospital with good doctors and I know its out of my hands all I can do is give my dad strength and pray we all pray he makes it out okay. My dad is a survivor he has the eye of the tiger. We all thank you for your love and support and your thoughts and prayers.
My Tia Elma called me this afternoon and shared a good story about my dad. Many of you may not know that my dad had terrible kidney problems when he was five. The doctors told my abuela Fina that my dad was not going to live. My aunt told me their cousin Bene told my dad if he got better he could wear a cape. Well my abuela and dad took a train ride to Galveston to the doctors there and he was there for a long time and he got better so much better. My aunt said that when my dad came home, Bene kept her promise and let him have the cape. He wore that cape all the time and "flew" around the house and didn't take it off. So please if you have a good story about Mr. V please share it in the comment section below and we will tell him those so he can have some good stories to hear. If you cannot figure out the comment section just email me too. I hope you enjoyed this little story about my dad because it shows he is strong, I told him I would get him a cape if he got better.
We got to see my dad again for a bit this afternoon. Dr. Bones was there and told us he is hanging in there, she is still monitoring him for his bleeding and so far it has not warranted enough for her to be concerned for surgery. The Nurses, Nurse Mary and Jennifer III, and Dr. Quentin were working on my dad replacing IV lines and one of his chest tubes. They want to make sure everything works and this hopefully will help, you need to replace IVs every once in a while when they are in your body so long. They also replaced his chest tube, it was slipping and it needed to be replaced with a new one and moved the chest tube to another place. This will hopefully help him drain fluid better. They also are running the dialysis to help flush out the fluids building him up. He is very puffy right now and you know what Mrs. V said. "Roel I hope you don't get stretch marks from all this bloating" Hahaha my mom and the nurses and doctor laughed. I said in my best Joey (my cousin) impersonation,"That is wrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooong." We have to keep our sense of humor around dad it helps us. We need to laugh to keep our spirits up and it has. I will not lie we have had difficult times and times we have cried but we pull ourselves together and remember that we need to be strong and to just laugh. We have had our shares of inappropriate jokes about this situation but we know Mr. V would be laughing too because thats just how he is. He and my mom have the best senses of humor I know and thats one of the many reasons they are perfect together. Ah Que Mr. V as my mom always says. Again thank you for your thoughts and prayers he is fighting all the way.
My mom went this morning to see my dad and talked to the doctors. He is still bleeding but it has slowed down. She said they are monitoring everything and their main goal is to get him stable and then get better. His blood pressure is still low and they keep pumping him with medicines to raise it to a normal level. Dr. Nightshift (i didnt remember to catch his name) came to talk to us out in the waiting area when he got off his shift. He was very somber in his tones and said that basically my dad's rib had punctured an artery in the accident but because the blood was clotting in his lung it was contained but because he had been moved, the artery opened up again. They want to avoid any procedures right now if they can because he said doing a surgery on his body would have the same affect as running a mile. They want him stable and to see what to do next. Dr. Nightshift seemed concered about my dad's health and to me it says he really is doing his job to keep my dad stable and to get his body to recover. Dr. Nightshift was very honest when my mom asked about his kidneys because she was told their were damaged and she asked well how damaged are they and will they heal. He said that he didn't know because their main concern is to stop the bleeding. So its still critical for my dad right now, high alert critical. We do not need drama today, Dad.
Nurse Jennifer III told my dad that we want a boring day, where my dad keeps stable and no excitement. We all want that today. My mom and I are being strong for my dad. He needs all the strength he can get to recover. I love him so much and so do a lot of people. So right now its just a waiting game to see which way he goes, and I know in my heart he will go up. I told him last night dad you have gotten so far you can do this. Thank you all so much for your prayers and thoughts. We love you all.
I think this song is fitting for my dad and his situation. In Rocky III, Rocky Balboa was going against Clubber aka Mr. T and he was big and had a mohawk and large gold jewelry but did Rocky give up, heck no he clobbered Clubber, because he had spirit and was the underdog, as always. My dad is a survivor and yes his daughter is a movie freak that happens to love all the Rocky movies except Rocky V ugh we don't talk about that one. Today my dad had a trying round with his body but his spirit didn't give up. He showed them with his one two south paw punches. My mom and I talk to him everyday that he is doing so well he can do this.
My dad is in high alert critical condition meaning they are really watching him and the doctor on call is checking on him. As I told you guys in the last post he was internally bleeding again, well it has slowed down a bit but he still needs blood and his blood pressure dropped. His body temperature has dropped too. His Nurse, New Lady Nurse (forgive me he has so many its hard to remember the names) has been keeping an eye on him. New Lady Nurse said they are keeping an eye on his blood pressure, his blood count, his heart rate and his body temperature and then some. They want him to remain stable through the night and they are once again pumping him with lots of fluids so he has a swollen body again. He doesn't need surgery thus far and the doctors do not want to perform surgery unless they need to in his condition because to do so would be risky. But my dad is Rocky Balboa when they think he is down he gets up and knocks some sense into them.
He tells us with his eyes he is fighting hard to recover. We tell him just by resting and letting the nurses and doctors tend to him he is doing so much to repair himself. We are in the hospital tonight spending the night because my mom and I want to be close and I think my dad can sense when we are close. I feel that our strength and I mean all of us here who are his family, friends, acquaintences touched by him, that our strength, give him strength. Your thoughts and prayers help us get through the rough patches and helps us celebrate the good things that happen. We love you all. My dad has the eye of the tiger, he is El Tigre.
This morning my mom had to go get out their personal belongings from my dad's car before the insurance towed his car from the junk yard. So I went to the hospital by myself this morning at 8:45 am. My mom called me as soon as I got there that my dad had internal bleeding last night (it was really at 2 am) and they are going to do a procedure on him. She explained that they had thought maybe it was his aorta that had been bleeding and that the reason they discovered the internal bleeding was that one of his chest tubes on his left side was gushing out blood and he was losing a lot of blood. So they had to replenish his blood supply and also take pictures of his aorta and put a small camera down his throat to his body to see his heart and aorta. The aorta looked fine, the stint and graft looked excellent. His heart looked dry because he lost a lot of blood. So they of course gave him more blood. Around 10:30 I went in to see my dad and they were preparing to take him to get a cat scan. Nurse Jennifer II explained that because it wasn't his aorta they were going to do a cat scan from his chest to his abdomen to his pelvis to see what could be causing it. She said he would be in CT (Cat Scan) for a while and that they would call us when he is back, yeah right like they EVER do that. So I waited and waited, I was lucky enough to have family and friends stop by and visit with me.
Still waiting my mom finally was done with getting things at the junk yard and getting a rental car. She came to the hospital around 2:00 pm. She and my uncle went in to see my dad. My uncle said that the surgeon was there talking to my mom and him and he said she reminded him of Bones (Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, tv show). So Dr. Bones told my mom, "You know we may have to do surgery and he may die and he is highly critical." Yeah just like Bones very matter of fact with no type of empathy or bedside manner. Well Dr. Bones didn't want to do surgery unless she had to and she noticed my dad had stopped bleeding. They had already prepared my dad for surgery and just as the surgeon came to see him he stopped bleeding. So Dr. Bones was going to come back in an hour to see if he starts bleeding again but that she didn't want to risk surgery if she didn't have to. She of course reminded my mom he may die if he goes into surgery in her logical matter of fact tone. So my mom, uncle, cousin and me wait and wait. Thank god my cousin brought chocolate I had bought for her son's fundraiser it came in handy, whatever my dad's in the hospital I can cheat on my weightwatchers, don't judge me.
Well an hour past and my mom and uncle went back there again. Thank god my dad was not bleeding and had not bleed so Dr. Bones decided not to do surgery. He was stablizing more and more. They were going to settle him back onto all his machines--they took him off of them because they thought he would be off to surgery. What they concluded was one of his ribs may have punctured an artery in the accident and it didnt start bleeding until now and that its now stopping, so they are going to monitor him all day and night. Dr. Ware (real name and the real bone doctor) said he was going to wait till the end of this week to do surgery on his ribs. Of course Dr. Bones (not her real name and not a bone doctor) told my mom that my dad was doing much better now. My mom said while they were there a priest came by and they prayed over my dad and then the nurse who came to tend to my dad her name was Mary. That was a sign a good sign. I am so glad that my dad is still fighting and pushing forward, its so great even when he is stable for us and him. I know it will be a long recovery but he still progresses every day little by little and that is all we ask for. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers, Mr. V certainly knows people love him and want him to get better.
Well I know its a good sign when my dad keeps trying to talk but no sound keeps coming out. It's like playing charades or password with him. We are terrible at this game. The nurses say he is responding more to their commands, so my dad understands us. We just don't understand him, ugh I need to hire a lip reader. Well he has been doing well today. The trauma nurses and doctors are working hard to fix Mr. V again. One of the nurses who tended to my dad stopped my mom this morning and said he was glad my dad was doing better and that he checks on him everyday even when he is not assigned to him to make sure my dad was doing well. Nurse Jennifer II and Jennifer IV said he has been charming and flirty shhhhhhhhh don't tell my mom. That's the Mr. V we know and love. He has had no complications today and believe me this makes our day. I keep reminding my dad all the time, we love him, we all love him and want him to get better.
Mr. V is doing it! My mom went early to the hospital, I was running late of course. When I got to the hospital she was already in the STICU seeing my dad. She came out to the waiting area and said "Awesome, Awesome, Awesome" My mom timed it just right to see the doctors making there rounds. She waited until they got to my dad and she heard Dr. Cotton going over all the tests they have done on my dad, e.g. his ammonia level. Every time they would go down the lists of tests and say my dad's levels Dr. Cotton would respond Awesome! They are reducing the medications they are giving him. His levels are slowly returning to normal. I finally realized they are testing my dad for EVERYTHING! They want all levels of everything that should be normal output for our bodies to test normal. Its going to take some time for him to go back to normal but the doctors see him making progress once again. Dr. Cotton reminded my mom "small steps" and that it would be a long time. He is still on dialysis and less fluid is coming out of his chest. The drugs they are giving for his jaundice is going to take a while to kick in so he is still yellow. My dad is responding better and he is doing more and more each day to try and communicate. He mouthed the words "Water" to my mom, to say he was thirsty. I about cried that is the first time he has tried to mouth words. She told him he couldn't have any water but that the nurse will wet his lips with a damp cloth.
As far as his infection, it wasn't a mystery infection really, his colon was inflamed and causing the levels in his body to go haywire and cause the fever and increase in white blood cells. They put him on new medicine yesterday and they said he is responding to it well and the dialysis has helped a lot. His white blood cell levels have not gone down but they have not increased either but the doctors said he just started the medicine so it will be a little while before it starts to really work. I know they are being conservative in telling us remember small steps and we know but we are just happy to see him recover bit by bit. He is still in his "rotisserie" bed as Nurse Jennifer IV calls it. He needs that bed to keep up his circulation and help his lungs, which by the way look healthy. Well I will keep everyone posted if there are further developments. Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers, he knows that a lot of people care for him and want him to recover.
I forgot my laptop so I apologize for the late post; I have to wait until the community computers are free in the waiting area. My mom and I saw my dad today at 2:00 pm finally after two hours of waiting. They were giving him a bath and other stuff before they let us go back there to see him. We met a new nurse, Nurse Jennifer, who happens to be the fourth Nurse Jennifer that has tended to dad, so she is Nurse Jennifer, IV. Jennifer, IV told us that nothing exciting has happened and that he has been pretty stable. His fever has not come back and his blood pressure is normal. He is in this new fancy bed of course and it was rotating him side to side when we got there. He blinked his eyes really well while we were there to let my mom know he is aware that we were there talking to him. He is still on dialysis and still will be until the renal doctor checks his kidneys and makes sure they are getting better. I just felt so much better when the nurse said "nothing exciting has happened." I always remembered what my cousin's friend said who is a doctor, she said you never want doctors or nurses to be excited about your condition, you want them to be bored because that means its nothing really serious. Mr. V is fighting more and more each day. I know this will be a long recovery with setbacks but for every little setback there are giant leaps towards progression. Again thank you for your thoughts and prayers, its working.
Jonathan and I went to see my dad late this evening. Due to an emergency in the STICU with another patient it was on lockdown again. Finally, we were able to see him. His eyes were open again. I was telling him stories and he was able to move his mouth a little and his eyes and eyebrows. He was on his dialysis machine and its a 24 hour dialysis machine. This way it can really help out his kidneys. They had done a CAT SCAN again to see if maybe they could find anything else that may be adding to the infection they found nothing. The New Nurse said they could not find any other infections in his body. She told us he was stable and that he had no fever and that his blood pressure is normal. She said she took him off of one blood pressure medicine. He is in a new type of bed that he is strapped to so they can rotate him from side to side while he is on dialysis. This is supposed to help the lungs she said. I am not sure what she meant by that but I was just to busy being happy that she said he was doing fine so far. Now we just have to pray he stays fever free and normal blood pressure through the night. His heart rate is high but they are going to figure out what to do in the morning when the doctors do their rounds. Also the renal doctor (for his kidney's) will come too, to check out his kidneys to see if they are doing any better. I am praying that they will do better and that he will fight this infection. He has come so far from such serious injuries, he has some fight left in him.
My mom spoke with the doctors this afternoon about my dad's condition. He is not doing well. He still has an infection and they cannot tell where its coming from. This is causing low blood pressure and his kidney's are failing, renal failure. He is starting dialysis right now so they can sustain his metabolic and remove toxins in his body. If they cannot find the source of the infection and treat it correctly his organs will shut down one at a time. Right now they are treating his jaundice with a medicine called Actigal. The only little light was that he still has a fever but its at a good level, but his white blood cells are high. In my heart its not time for my dad so he needs to fight this. Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts. It was really hard to type this post but I had to because with every journey to recovery there are obstacles that can be conquered.
Well I am waiting to see my dad, they have the STICU in "lockdown" as my mom said. They are doing a procedure on one of the patients (not my dad) and will not let anyone in until its done. My mom did get to see my dad this morning and she said he was trying to move his eyes more and he moves his eyebrows. When the respiratory therapist was talking my dad tried to move his head to see who was talking, he almost did it but the respiratory therapist helped him move his head. So he is almost there folks. I am going to tell him about Dr. Red Duke today and Pollie of course (his favorite grandpuppy). I am going to tell him about how everyone is praying for him. I will wait to tell him about the Nurse Sunshine incident. Other then that just hanging out with my family today which is great. My Aunt Lee brought me a pic of my dad and my mom from 1974 so you know that is going on the slide show. Nothing says looking good like my dad in his leisure suit. Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers, its working!
Once again we cannot thank family and friends enough for showing their support and love through this difficult time. We appreciate everything you have done for us. Whether it be dinner from Diamond S (still in that Nacho Coma), prayers, blessings, Big GINORMOUS gift baskets, cards, flowers, being there, you name it we are appreciative of all you do. Mr. V is progressing in the right direction, again tonight he opened his eyes and still communicates with his eyebrows, we said he is doing morse code with them. That's all to report for now! We love you all so much!
While I was at work this morning (work is being very understanding so I am part time temporarily), my mom went to see my dad and she said he opened his eyes! She asked if he could move his eyes or move his hands if he understood her and he tried with all his might and was able to move his eyebrows up and down. Yup the old Mr. V eyebrows, where we would joke his were getting to be like Fergie's dad (not singer Fergie but Duchess Sarah Fergusen) but yeah they moved up and down to tell my mom "Hey I am still here and I am not going anywhere." We still have a couple of battles to overcome. His eyes and skin are turning yellow so they think he has hepatitis and he has an infection in his lungs still. So as soon as the doctors figure out what is causing the yellowing and his infection they will treat it. Then when its finally treated they will look into his broken bones. I am so glad he opened his eyes this morning. Right now he is sleeping my mom said and he is yawning big yawns. I don't blame my dad it probably took a lot out of him just to open his eyes. Well he is heading in the right direction. Thank you guys so much for your prayers and concerns. I am sure Mr. V knows in his heart there are a lot of people who love him and thats why he is tough and fighting this every step of the way.
Update:
Dr. Red Duke was here! If you dont know who that is click on his name and you will be directed to website about him. But I cannot wait to tell my dad this because he used to have a medical news spot on the local station in Corpus Christi on Channel 3. I saw him talking with a family member about a patient and I heard him and thought hey I know that voice. I almost wanted to ask for his autograph but I didn't. The front desk was stunned because they said he rarely comes out and talks to patients or their families. Wow he is like House, MD. the man behind the curtain. My mom walked by him and she confirmed it was him! Sorry dorky but it excited me that we have celebrity doctors at an awesome hospital
I apologize for not updating last night but I was exhausted. They performed every thing I said they would in my other post. Dr. Hughes told us that his CAT SCAN showed nothing but that he has some sinus issues. However, they are going to schedule an MRI on him so they can get more detail on his brain tissues. They are still concerned that he has not woken up yet. Last night when my mom and I visited him maybe it was my imagination but his eyelids started to want to open. It made me think of when you are in a real deep sleep and you want to open your eyes but that its just to exhausting to do it. Also, they put in the tube on his right side to drain the fluid that has settled around his lungs. They may do the plating of the ribs today or tomorrow. Dr. Hughes explained that they slit open his left side and slide the plates over the ribs to force them back into place, so they can start healing. We do not know the results of what bacterial infection he has, and we will not know until 2 days from now, that's how long Dr. Conservative said it will take to culture the bacteria. For now they are pumping him with some antibiotics but in 2 days they will know specifically what kind of medicines to give my dad to beat this infection. I am still hoping my dad will start to turn around he already has overcome so many obstacles. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts for our family, we do appreciate it and love you all.
Hello my family and friends, I am trying to put together a slide show of my dad for the blog. If anyone has pictures of my dad email me. You can just click email me and it will go to my yahoo. I already have some from family working on getting some more!
My mom went to see my dad this morning and she always times it when the doctors are doing their rounds. She was able to speak with Dr. Hamilton. Dr. Hamilton is part of the trauma team and he has been the doctor who has always given us conservative diagnosis, hence Dr. Conservative. Well today was no different. Dr. Conservative said my dad has an infection because he has a fever and the temperature remains high. They are going to do a bronchoscopy on my dad to get a sample from his lung to see what type of bacteria it is. The preliminary prognosis is pneumonia but they are not sure. They also want to do a CAT SCAN again of his brain because Dr. Conservative said he is not waking up as quickly as he should. Ugh these doctors never agree. Dr. Quentin says it may be a while before he awakens, Dr. Conservative is like no he should have been awake and talking and making coffee. Seriously talk to one another that is all I ask. They are also going to do a thoracostomy, inserting a tube for the right lung since fluid has been collecting on his right side. Also they discussed about plating his ribs. From what I understand(if anyone out there is a medical student, ahem Robert, or nurse reading this blog feel free to correct me) they take a metal plate in front of the ribs and connect them together to allow them to mend. I tried to google some type of diagram to no avail, thanks google! So I know my dad will pull through but its going to be a long journey of little downs and big ups. Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts.
As you know my dad was scheduled to have his tracheostomy tomorrow morning but SURPRISE SURPRISE it was done this early afternoon. How did my mom find out you say? Well when she went to go see my dad around 11:00 am they told her she couldn't because they are doing procedures right now. The receptionist could not elaborate. FINALLY my mom saw him at 2:15 pm and she saw that they had performed the tracheostomy. The New Nurse (substituting for Nurse Sunshine) told my mom that they had performed the tracheostomies here and that 3 other patients had to get them too, that's why they wouldn't allow anyone back in STICU. I got off work at 1:30 and got here by 3:00 and was able to see my dad with my mom. He was doing fine, he looks better not so bloated. His heart rate is going down and they are trying to make it go down even more with some medicine. New Nurse was nice enough to call at the front desk to let us know the doctors were doing their rounds. So thank you New Nurse. Dr. Quentin spoke to us and said that when he was examining my dad earlier he said my dad's name,and my dad tried to open his eyes. He couldn't do it just yet but he was trying. He said that people who are older it may take a while for them to wake up once they are off the sedatives and especially since he had two surgeries yesterday it may be longer. Dr. Quention also said that they may do a cat scan on his chest because he is draining quite a bit of fluid from there so they will assess from their if they will clean his chest or let it drain some more. I think it made my mom's day when he said "He tried to open his eyes." So we are just praying he stabilizes more so that way they can go ahead and tend to his bones. We are so thankful he is progressing.
My dad will be having his surgery for his percutaneous tracheostomy on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 9:00 am. My mom trusts Nurse Midnight (Nightshift Nurse) and she confirmed it. Nurse Midnight also said my dad's heart rate went down to 118 which is good, because yesterday it was at 141. His vitals are good and he is still sleeping and Nurse Midnight was going to let him rest for the night. Oh also my dad is off the sedatives so slowly they are getting him to wake up. Every thing is looking good so far. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.
I would like to thank Jay Johnson for helping me with my blog design as I am computer illiterate and all with websites. So thanks Jay for my snazzy new design!
We just saw my dad. My mom was lucky enough to corner Nurse Sunshine and Dr. Hamilton. Dr. Hamilton told us my dad's abdomen had been closed, they didn't need it open anymore! He also told us about the surgery on his aorta but we already knew that went well. This is good news people because they had told us before it could be at LEAST a week before they could close up his abdomen. And it was only two days! Also Nurse Sunshine said he was off his sedative medication. So he could wake up later tonight or tomorrow morning. So he will be awake and alert, no talking yet as he is still being weened off the breathing machine. But this is good progress. Its still a long road ahead but everyday it gets better.
UPDATE:
Another Surgery, another day. Tomorrow my dad will be going for a percutaneous tracheostomy. This is a surgery in his throat so be can breathe better instead of tubes down his mouth through his trachea. We are not sure when the surgery will be done but my mom will be sure to find out and hope this time they will not lose him.
Success! Dr. Azizzadeh, Vascular Surgeon, talked to us at 4:15 about my dad's operation. It went well and he is fine. My mom made the mistake of saying "oh so you are a cardiologist" Dr. Azi (ugh his name is too long for me I am lazy) said "No I am a vascular surgeon" My mom said "Oh there is a difference?" Dr. Azi said "Yes I deal with the vascular side, the arteries,veins, I am the plumber, basically" So no we know and the more you know... Well Dr. Azi told us basically they did basically a sonogram and saw a weakening of the wall of the aorta in my dad. They went in and placed a stent in with webbing to cover up the surrounding area where the wall was weak. So everything went fine and he was doing well. He wants to see my dad after he recovers for a follow up visit. So its always good to hear when a doctor says follow up visit when your dad is in critical condition. Its just these little things that are so big to us. Well now we know he is in his room for sure, my mom asked and they said yes that bed 22 was back. So in a bit I will get to see my dad and one day we can tell him the story of when they lost him. We will laugh and laugh and laugh.
At STICU they assign a bed number to the patients, my dad is bed number 22. Well this morning he went into surgery to clean out the sponge in his abdomen that he has open to release pressure in his organs. Well that was at 9:30 am. We saw as my dad was wheeled away to surgery and then went out and waited. My mom and I went over around 11:30 to ask is Bed 22 back in his room. The receptionist called back there and asked if Bed 22 was back in the room, no he was not. So my mom and I thought well maybe they have not returned yet from surgery. So we waited. Then my Uncle Joe came by around 12:00 so my mom decided oh hey its noon I should ask again if your dad is back. So she went up there and asked the receptionist again, hey is Bed 22 back from OR (operating room). She said "No he is not back but look someone came to see him." She pulled out the visitor's sign in sheet and there was my Tia Elvia's signature. She had missed us and tried to see my dad. Well my aunt came back to the waiting room and said she tried to see my dad and the lady handed her the badge (you gotta have a badge to get in) and so she thought okay I am good to go.
Well my aunt saw that no one was in my dad's room and she rushed back and told the receptionist. The receptionist was in shock saying well if he was still in OR his visitor's badges would have been pulled so no one could see him. Apparently STICU failed to tell the receptionist. Well as my aunt was telling us this my mom said okay well lets go to lunch I am sure after lunch Roel will be back. So my aunt decides to go home but my mom, my Uncle Joe and I go have a nutritious lunch at the cafeteria, if you call chicken wings and french fries nutritious. So we go back to the waiting area and my mom decides to try again. She calmly goes up to the desk, while my Uncle Joe and I sat in the waiting area. Then my Uncle Joe notices she left so we think "oh she is visiting with my dad." Then my mom comes back and says yeah he is in surgery for his aorta now. Whaaat?!! When did this happen?
"Paging for Bed 22, Roel Villarreal where are you?"
My mom told us a story of a nurse and a receptionist and their failure to communicate. So lets go back to the eighth time my mom asked where my dad was. The receptionist picked up her phone to call back to STICU and they said nope he is not in his room. So she tells my mom "I will go back there and see what is going on." Well she goes back there and waves my mom into the hallway of the STICU and has Nurse Sunshine with her. ( I call her Nurse Sunshine because she is my dad's dayshift nurse and she is SOOooooooooooo not a morning person nor is she very friendly.) So here is the conversation:
"Where is my husband?"
"Oh he was taken to have surgery on his aorta"
"Okay well did he every come back to his room from his abdomen surgery?"
"Oh yeah uuuuuugh probably an hour and a half ago"
"Well why didnt you tell the front about it, isnt it important to inform the front when he is back from OR and when he leaves to OR?"
"uuuugh, well "
" Well can you at least tell me where the surgery is at and where is the waiting room"
"uuugh hold on" (Nurse Sunshine fumbles for her phone)
"Nevermind I know he will be at the Cardio Vascular center here I will just ask when I get there where my husband is at"
"Well okay" says Nurse Sunshine as she prances on her way back to Sunshine Land where patient care is never a priority in her land nor knowing how to be informative to the family of patients it must be nice in Sunshine Land. Luckily the nice receptionist said "Oh I can call over there for you and your husband will be on the seventh floor because thats where they have all the surgeries" So she called and told my mom he was there and that to wait in the waiting area. So my dad was basically lost for a while because no one bothered to tell us when he was out of surgery and when he got back and when he went again to surgery. Its always fun when people play with your emotions.
Finally my dad was found and he was in surgery so hallelujah...
Well thanks to effective hospital communication, NOT, we learned that my dad will be in surgery this morning to clean out the sponge that is in his abdomen. So that surgery was scheduled for 9:30 am. So as far as we know the aorta surgery will be this early afternoon. The nurse didn't know when exactly but she would let us know when she found out. It looks like his swelling went down.
Last night he was fighting a little fever but now his body temperature is normal. His heart rate is a little high but they are giving him an IV drip of medicine that will lower it. He still has a looooooooooooong way to go but everyday its a baby step towards recovery.
My dad is going to have surgery tomorrow morning, Monday November 16, 2009 at 9:30 am. He will be having surgery to fix his aorta and have a Endovascular Stent Graft put in. This will help the aorta heal and eventually close up. Please pray everything goes well. I will update the blog tomorrow after the surgery.
UPDATE:
Surgery scheduled for early afternoon on Monday, November 16, 2009.
A lot of you wanted to know where you can send anything like cards or flowers. Right now he is in STICU so please hold off on flowers until we get into a regular room at Memorial Hermann but if you wish to send letters or cards please mail them to my parents address:
Roel M. Villarreal
17402 N. Riata Lake Dr.
Cypress, TX 77433
Thank you all!
Today is going to be a great day! My mom went in to visit my dad this morning and while I was waiting and reading some enthralling literature called Lucky magazine (hey believe me this is all I can handle right now). She finally came out she hugged me and began to shed some tears, TEARS OF HAPPINESS! She said that Dr. Alvarado had said they are weening him off the ventilator (breathing machine). That is great news since Dr. Alvarado had told us two days ago it could be weeks before they would remove him from the ventilator. His lungs look really healthy and they are going to try to get him to breathe on his own soon. He told her "We're making progress." This really brought tears to my mom's eyes because only yesterday did Dr. Hamilton say," I can't tell you he's making progress, but he's not getting worse."
My dad's vital signs are okay and he only needed 2 pints of blood yesterday, this great news! They are only giving him platelets now to help with the blood clotting. He definitely has no brain injuries. Their goal the next couple of days is waking him up and breathing on his own. This gives us so much hope. I know it will be along time before he can get up and go have coffee with me but the fact is that I can wait for that moment. All your thoughts and prayers have helped us so far.
Update: 11:28 am
Dr. Amer spoke to us, he is a cardiovascular surgeon. He wants to repair my dad's aorta; it has a tear and he said now its minimal but he does not want it to rupture. So he is going to try and schedule the surgery tomorrow early afternoon. This is the beginning of many surgeries to come so please keep us in your thoughts.
I want to thank our family and friends for their support and prayers. We are keeping up our spirits the best we can. We love you all. I hope my dad realizes how many people love him and want him to get better.
My dad has been stable the past 48 hours. They had concerns because he had been bleeding but the bleeding was slowing down which is a good sign. His vital signs are in tack. Its hard to see my dad because he is hooked up with tubes coming everywhere and monitors attached and IVs galore. I know in my heart that this is helping him heal. His nurses that are taking care of him are very nice and informative. They have kept us up to date on his condition. Yesterday his bladder pressure was up and that was a concern. They told my mom they were going to monitor it and explained that normal bladder pressure level is between 5 and 8, my dad's was a 22 but it was not critical yet. Well this morning it reached critical. Dr. Alvarado had informed my mom, when she was finally allowed to see my dad this morning, that because of all the fluids in him and because his kidney's cannot keep up with processing it, that the fluids are building up along the wall tissue of his abdomen and that its building up pressure on his organs and that they needed to perform surgery. They made a large incision down his abdomen to relieve the pressure to allow his organs to swell up and expand and then heal. They informed her its a routine procedure and if all goes well it should take 45 minutes to an hour. They are going to leave my dad's abdomen open for weeks to let it heal. Their main concern is to let his internal injuries heal basically before they even think about tending to his ribs and pelvis. Dr. Ware was the surgeon to perform this and he also said he may remove the spleen and look at the liver. Update: Just saw my dad the nurse said everything looked good, his organs looked fine no need to perform surgery on them. All they had to do was cut open his abdomen to relieve the pressure and every so often check it to see if the swelling has gone down, it looks good. He is progressing well but it will be a slow recovery.
Thursday, November 14th:
At 10:30 am my mother called me to tell me that my dad was in a terrible car accident and that the jaws of life had to be used and he had to be life flighted to Memorial Hermann Hospital Downtown. This is one of the Trauma 1 centers in Houston and the best. My mom told me a witness had called to tell her that she saw the accident that occured and my dad was fine. He was alert and responsive and told the witness my mom's name and where she worked. They were able to locate my mom and luckily she was in her office at that time. The witness said my dad was okay but in a lot of pain and the helicopter had just arrived. The paramedics then called my mom afterwards and told her the same thing as the witness. My mom then called me.
I was at work trying not have a mental breakdown, it was very hard not to cry. My mom was going to pick me up at work and we were going to meet up with my dad at the emergency center at the hospital. At this point we had no idea how bad my father was. We arrived at the hospital and was told first to settle with the business office for insurance purposes, of course. Its almost like the receptionist said "Hey your dad has been in a horrible accident and badly injured but can you pay first before you see him thanks GO USA HEALTH SYSTEM!"
So my mom settled that business and then we were told to wait in the Dr. James "Red" Duke waiting area for Life Flights. (Dr. Red Duke used to have a spot on Channel 3 News in Corpus Christi ah memories from my childhood) Well we waited and waited and waited and waited and waited. Finally mom went back to the receptionist and she was surprised a doctor hadn't spoken to us yet. She let us know they had moved him to Shock and Trauma Intensive Care Unit (STICU). We arrived there and was told they had just received the order to place my dad in bed #22 but he was still in Interventional Radiology. They would let us know when he was in his bed and usually would take 45 minutes to settle him down and hook him up. A little information background here, we arrived at the hospital at 11:30 am and it was already 1:00 pm by the time we got this information. So we waited and waited. Jonathan came around 1:30 and the three of us just waited. My mom's good friends from work came by to be supportive and brought lots of people magazine's (thanks Brandi and Nicole!). Then we went and asked again and again and again.
Finally at 8:30 pm Dr. Hamilton told us our dad's prognosis. My dad has a shattered spleen, fractured liver, shattered pelvis, broken ribs, cracked lower spine (no spinal cord damage), and injured aorta. He was intubated and thanks to my addiction to Grey's Anatomy, I knew what he meant. Basically my dad had to have a tube shoved down his throat and was hooked up to a breathing machine to help him breath to make sure his ribs, since they were broken, did not puncture or bruise his lungs. He told us my dad was heavily sedated so he wont feel the pain and that basically he would be in the hospital a long long time. My dad tested negative for head trauma so that was great news. Also Dr. Hamilton told us that they were going to monitor my dad for the next 24-48 hours to make sure he keeps stabilized and that this was a crucial time. I am not going to lie I was very upset it took so long to find out about my dad but my mom said something that helped. She said, "Delena, I think that because the doctors', tending to your dad, number one concern was to save his life and stabilize him and that we were secondary. In the big picture it was very important to save his life rather then tell us what was going on right away"
This is my first time blogging so please bare with me through typos and terrible grammar. I started this blog to update those who know and love my dad, Mr. Roel Villarreal aka Mr. V. I know everyone will want to know his progress as we entail this long journey to recovery. To do a quick recap my dad was in a terrible car accident that luckily he survived. He sustained many internal injuries and broken ribs and shattered pelvis. He has been taken care of by the best trauma team Houston has to offer at Memorial Hermann in the medical center. We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers as we entail this long sojourn. Please check in daily as I will try to update on his prognosis.
