Mr. V's Journey To Recovery

Today my dog pounced on me to wake me up and then I heard Lionel Richie sing "Hello is it me your looking for." It wasn't a dream it was my mom's cell phone ringing, her ring tone is "Hello" by Lionel Richie. It was 4:00 am and Dr. Krieger called my mom. The day before my dad had stabilized and they had gone down on his blood pressure medicine (pressers) so we decided to stay home last night. Well early this morning he started bleeding from his rectum again and his blood pressure was dropping significantly. We gathered our overnight bags and blankets and headed out to Memorial Herman by 4:30 am. When we arrived the front desk receptionist waived us through and we rushed over to STICU bed 20. Dr. Kreiger was there and explained to us that around 1 am he started having bloody stool and then his blood pressure kept dropping and they increased his dosage on his pressers to the max and he was struggling. They ordered blood and blood products. When we got there she said he was doing a little bit better but not much. Nurse Carmen explained that they were getting another type of presser but it too will probably have the maximum dosage he needs but they are hoping it works better. They are also hoping the blood and blood products will help his blood pressure too.

While we waited in his room, Dr. Kreiger was kind enough to get us another chair. Let me explain in STICU this is not like a normal hospital room they want the family members to visit but not to stay because they have to tend to the patient a lot. So normally there are no chairs or one chair in the room for a visitor. Two chairs is a special deal here. My dad was sedated but on his own the doctor explained that when your blood pressure drops significantly your body tends to sedate itself. His eyes were barely open. Dr. Kreiger explained to us that she called us because right now he could go either way, he could turn for the better or turn for the worse. She said she hates making these calls but that it is important for family to be here during this time. I agree. She let us stay for a bit to visit with dad this morning.

Around 5:30 am the Gastrologist or GI resident came in to examine dad. Dr. well I dont remember his name I dont think he said a name. Okay so Dr. Who told us that yesterday the GI team looked at my dad and had decided because of his blood thinner medicine and the tube for his bowel movements had caused the trauma to the rectum which caused the bleeding. At the time they didn't want to explore further because my dad had stopped bleeding. So they were just going to monitor him and since he started bleeding again now they are going to take action. Dr. Who and Nurse Carmen Christmas (she was wearing festive accessories) turned my dad a little so he could take a look if he was still bleeding and he was. Dr. Who said that he had blood coming out but it was weird clotting due to the blood thinners and the low low platelete count. He explained that he was going to call his attendee Dr. Wolf (seriously a real name or is it?) and see what they are going to do. He said they may do a semi-colonoscopy procedure meaning its not going to be a full colonoscopy all the way through the intestines but one that goes part of the way just to see what is causing the bleeding. He said it maybe something as simple as a rectal tear or a bleeding ulcer. He said because its during a time of shift change they probably will not do it until later this morning. At this time Nurse Carmen Christmas told us to step out for a bit since my dad was a little bit more stable she wanted to clean him up.

Around 6:30 am they called us back there again. Dr. Who wanted my mom to sign a consent form to perform the semi-colonoscopy. He explained the risks. He also said they may not see anything because of the bleeding and since it wasn't a full colonoscopy. They didn't want to risk putting my dad on anesthesia because of his already low low blood pressure which is what is required for a full colonoscopy. He said once they look and see what they find they will consult the Trauma team and see what course of action is next. So I guess now all my mom and I can do is wait and wait.

So this is what happened so far today and it is barely 8 am. My dad is very very very sick still and for a week and a half he was doing a tiny bit better but now we are back on that roller coaster ride. I told him he has been here before and he pulled through this. We went to the chapel this morning and prayed because all we can do is hope for the best. Please keep this going. Thank you so much for your love, support, prayers and positive thoughts.