Nothing ever happens like it's supposed to!

Dad called me at 9:00 this morning to tell me that they were going to take him to pre-op at 10:00. So I left work and rushed over there, calling Mom and Chris on the way to let them know. Chris is having truck problems and had intended to work on his truck this morning before heading to the hospital, but Mom had to go pick him up instead, so with one thing and another, it was noon before they arrived.

About 12:10 the anasthesiologist comes in and starts asking Dad about the breakfast he had this morning. That's right, the hospital served him breakfast this morning before surgery! You see where this is going, right? It was chicken broth, jello, juice, and coffee, but since you're not supposed to eat or dring for at least 8 hours before surgery....

So tomorrow at 1:00 - supposedly.

They're taking his leg tomorrow...

and that's all I really have to say about it. We were joking today about getting him a peg leg and a talking parrot to sit on his shoulder and an eye patch, so I think I'll go try to find some stuff to take in tomorrow (actually this afternoon) to try to cheer him up a little.

No, it's not gangrene

I just read Sandie's blog, and no, it's not gangrene. He has a staph infection and a dead toe. His leg needs to come off because the chances are slim that they can get rid of the staph infection and heal the pressure sores because of his diabetes and poor circulation. The surgeon was actually more concerned about the pressure sores than the dead toe. The toe has to come off so that it doesn't turn into gangrene, but if they don't remove his leg, the infection will eventually kill him. It could be several years before that happened though.

I've been expecting this outcome for several days now, and I think that in the end Dad will be healthier without his leg. I think that he's been fighting infections for a long time now, and I know that he's been in pain from that leg.

The final decision has not been made as yet - meaning Dad hasn't actually agreed to the surgery yet - but the doctor is coming in again this afternoon and the decision will probably be made then.

More Info

I took off work this morning to go wait at the hospital for the doctor. Turned out I got there just in time, and the doctor came in right after I did.

They are just about ready to send Dad home. He does have the infection in both the wound and his blood, but not in his bone. They said that he will need to continue the antibiotics and the wound care, and that could be done at a skilled nursing facility. They aren't completely sure about the fracture and wanted to do an MRI but Dad refused. I didn't push on that one since there's nothing they can do about a fracture at this point - they can't put a cast on it because they have to have access to his wound to take care of it.

I asked about his toe and the doctor said that he felt that a surgeon should look at it but that Dad had refused that as well. Dad said he didn't, but knowing Dad, I'm sure he did. Anyway, we agreed that a surgeon should at least look at it and determine if that is a danger (how could it not be?) and that we would go from there. Like I told Dad, I'd rather see him loose a toe than a foot/leg/life.

Yesterday he did come up with some blood in his stool, so they are going to run additional tests on that as well.

All in all though things are looking okay.

You'll know more when I do.

Still have no idea what's going on...

I've left a message for the doctor to call me, so maybe I'll find something out today. None of us is ever at the hospital when the doctor shows up, so all of our information comes from the nurses (who are wonderful people, but they can't tell us what our options are, or what his prognosis is) and from Dad. And Dad said that the doctor told him they would only cut off his toe if Dad wanted them to, and he thinks that because he has a staph infection he's going to die.

Granted, a staph infection can kill you, but it doesn't mean that he'g going to die. Unless you don't cut off the dead toe, and then you get gangrene....

Oh, and now his leg might not be fractured!?

Lesley called last night, but somehow I missed the call. She's probably mad at us for not getting ahold of her earlier, but what could we have said? Dad's in the hospital, we don't know what's wrong or what they're going to do about it. Or whether Lesley should come home just in case. And if she did, when should she come? How long could she stay, and how long before we know something definate?

I am very worried about Dad though. He's depressed, hasn't eaten much of anything all week, and just really doesn't seem to care about anything. He doesn't want anyone's pens (that's a really bad sign), he wants Mom to do everything for him - even hold his cup so he can take a drink. He doesn't talk while we're there, doesn't complain about not getting to smoke - well he does occasionally, but not near what you'd expect.

We all kind of dance around the possibilities without really talking about them. I think that we all know he's going to lose at least the toe, maybe more. I'm afraid he won't survive the loss. But we don't talk about it, I guess cuz that might make it all real.

Dad

Dad's in the hospital again. The nursing home called me on Tuesday and said that he hadn't gotten out of bed that morning, and when they went to check on him, he was difficult to wake up and disoriented. So they took his blood pressure and it was 70 something over 40 something. By the time he got to the hospital it was 70/13.

Many tests later, they determined that somehow his left leg got fractured (at this point we have no idea when or how it happened) and the pressure sores (that he's been going to wound care for months now because they can't get them to heal) on that leg became infected and the infection has moved into his bone.

Right now we don't know what they are planning on doing about all this, except that he's on the strongest antibiotics there are. I was looking at his leg this evening, and he has one toe that is deep purple, almost black. I'm afraid that this time he's going to loose his leg.

I'll post again when I know something definate.

A twin?

We were watching the National Geographic channel tonight, and they had a show on multiple births: In the Womb. I've always wanted to have twins, so of course I had to watch, and amazingly enough Chris let me! It was a pretty neat show with some really cool 4D images.

I had told Chris once about the vanishing twin syndrome, and how one fetus can be absorbed by the other fetus (or the placenta), so when they started talking about it I called him in to watch. Then they said that some estimate that 1 in 8 people started life as a twin while only 1 in 70 is born a twin. One theory (evolved from "mirror" twins) is that left-handed people were twins in utero!

So maybe I started out as a twin! I guess that could explain why I've always wanted to have twins - 1 girl and 1 boy. I also found out that that's pretty rare, most twins are the same sex. I also found out that I have pretty good odds of having twins because of my age and weight.

I'm on my sixth week of folic acid, which coincided with my expected ovulation (I never figured out when I ovulated on my last period, and I haven't bought another box of testers....), so next month we get to try!

So, what's up with you?

I've wanted a telescope since I was a kid, and it's just one of those things I never thought about getting. Every time the subject would come up I'd be all "Yeah, I've always wanted one of those!" and then I'd promptly forget about it again. Chris got me one for Christmas, except he couldn't find one in town and I ended up ordering it online. That meant I didn't actually get the telescope until January something. Of course, it arrived during the full moon, which was actually pretty cool - getting to see the craters and lakes and stuff on the moon. But we couldn't see anything else because of all the light from the moon.

So, last weekend would have been the perfect time to use the telescope - no moon. Unfortunately for everyone in Oklahoma, we had that ice storm come thru - lots of clouds, no stars. Ok, no problem. This coming up weekend is supposed to be another good weekend for star-gazing. EXCEPT. We have another ice storm coming in this weekend as well.

Don't you just hate it when you get a new toy and can't play with it?

Not much going on around here other than that. School starts on Monday, I'm taking all internet classes this time, which is going to be nice. Especially if we keep getting this unusual weather. I mean really, we get a couple of storms a year, usually one in January and one in February, and neither of them sticks around for long. Must be global warming or something!

I'm thinking about selling some stuff on ebay, but I have to check out all the fees and talk to Sandie and get the inside scoop on just how much of a pain in the ass I'm setting myself up for.

We were supposed to go see Jamie & Phil, but that's on hold til this weather clears up. I haven't seen them in ages, so that'll be good. Chris wants to get them out to go do something outdoorsy, we'll have to see about that. Maybe some star-gazing if it ever clears up.

I guess that's about it, my life in a nutshell!

I am still alive!

And I just got my new computer (not a laptop darn it) and my cable internet connection! So right now I'm playing, but I will be able to post more often (whether I will or not is another question), and upload photos, and everything!