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April 29, 2008
James report
I've always said that there should be a website to keep networks of people up to date when folks are in the hospital. I still hope to make millions off of that website some day. In the meantime, I suppose I'll start doing a daily update here. First, a catch up:
On Sunday night/Monday morning, my dad started having severe abdominal pain with vomiting etc. My mom took him to the emergency at Alton Memorial (where he does a good deal of his surgeries and has for years). The initial diagnosis was pancreatitis. The analogy we've been given for pancreatitis is that it's like a snake bite - you never know how an individual is going to react to it. Some are in the hospital for a few days, some for months.
Monday and part of Tuesday was tests tests tests. By late afternoon Tuesday, it was confirmed that it was indeed pancreatitis, and it was caused by gall stones. That the plan of action was to wait for the pancreatic swelling to go down, then do laproscopic gall bladder removal. We felt relieved on Tuesday, secure in the confirmed diagnosis, and hopeful that it was just a matter of days before his levels stabilized and he could finish recovery at home and have the surgery in a few weeks.
By Friday/Saturday, his levels had stabilized enough for them to put him on a liquid diet and remove the IV. My mom made sure he walked every couple hours. Unfortunately, his stomach didn't process the food well and the swelling remained. The IV was back on Sunday, and Monday morning they did a test to see if there was any blockage. Monday, his Dr's came to give the snake bite analogy above, and to tell him that at this point, we wait. They did have the bad news of suggesting a TPN (Total parenteral nutrition) which is administered through the neck. Not looking forward to seeing that.
So that's the latest. We're all concerned about keeping his spirits up. He's 64 and never been sick. Runs 5 miles a day and works until you pull him away. Being down for the count this long is just not going over well.
Posted by nikl at April 29, 2008 07:10 PM
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