paperstew

Shifting Rooms

Day 28: I’ve managed to take quite a few days off from traveling back and forth to Eugene. Instead, I’ve been dealing with the mountain of laundry belonging to my brother and conversations with grumpy business landlords. On Monday Tom made a monumental improvement by being downgraded to “step-down” ICU. The next move will be aContinue reading “Shifting Rooms”

Settling in for the long haul

Tom continues to improve daily. He had yanked out his feeding tube back on Thursday night but they ended up approving of his swallowing ability so he’s now eating food. Dialysis continues but not on a daily basis. It’s now performed every other day and for just 4 hours. There is still hope that hisContinue reading “Settling in for the long haul”

Improving

Last night I was just tired and didn’t want to do an additional brain dump, even though things are looking better as the hours tick along. Wednesday, Dave and I spent a few hours with Tom in the morning. We were hoping to catch the doctor on his rounds, but it didn’t work. Tom wasContinue reading “Improving”

21 Days

Most people don’t spend a whole lot of time in ICU. They don’t get to meet the multiple nurses and doctors that take care of the patients every day, all day. Our situation is different. We’re building some very nice friendships with the different nurses. Some are so outgoing and really enjoyable to talk to.Continue reading “21 Days”

Tracheostomy here we come!

Since I’m tired and want to make dinner, here is my write up posted on Facebook. Not such a great day today. We did get filled in on missing information regarding my brother by talking with both nurse and the doctor (each having a different view on the situation). On Sunday Tom became overly agitated andContinue reading “Tracheostomy here we come!”

Glimmer of hope

We’ve been in a stale mate for a couple of days regarding my brother’s health. There was a huge infection in his abdomen that was drained along with some breathing difficulties back on Thursday. This morning, my sister-in-law called the hospital for an update and it was actually a little positive. Tom was responding toContinue reading “Glimmer of hope”

Heat Fibrillation and Plans

It’s Wednesday night and I’m so wiped out mentally. I stayed home today and gleaned info from my sister who also avoided the hospital. Our uncle went in during the morning and reported Tom’s heart went through several series of fibrillation during the night. I don’t know what that really means, but I can prettyContinue reading “Heat Fibrillation and Plans”

Waiting Game

This is what I don’t like. Waiting. I understand the body can take a while to work through things, but I just want my brother back. Yes, I’m impatient. Sometimes he looks around and it’s like he sees you, but then it’s gone. It certainly doesn’t help to have tubes galore feeding in and outContinue reading “Waiting Game”

Saturday hospital report

My apologies to those wanting art related things. My family is still engulfed in my brother’s health struggle and this blog is one way to keep in touch with loved ones around the world. Positive things on Saturday: Tom was experiencing more eye movement and actual eye closing. He is still having “cough/gaspings” with theContinue reading “Saturday hospital report”

Enzymes

Rather than writing another long section of info on my brother, I copied and pasted what I wrote last night into the blog. Just returned from visiting at the hospital. Tonight we learned he didn’t have a heart attack. The enzymes that show up in the blood (during/after a heart attack) were not there. So, theContinue reading “Enzymes”