No Stroke!!

Pierce Cousins: Bobby - Hallie - Ryan - Miller

(Photo Courtesy of Ryan Robson)

CAT Scan - The results are back and.... He has a sinus infection!! :) YAY! I never knew I could ever be so excited about a sinus infection! I spoke to his night nurse last night (Britney) - She was very helpful - And she calmed my nerves a little bit as we awaited the CAT results... She thinks that the lack of movement in his right arm is more a muscular problem because he actually has a lot of strength in his hand (squeezing, etc). I didn't realize that or else I wouldn't have been so worried about the stroke thing! She mentioned requesting an X-Ray to see what else is going on in his shoulder, so we shall see... His Potassium & Magnesium levels have also elevated, so that's great news for his heart (for now)!

Today's nurse, Stacey, said he's doing fine (duh!)... He's a little restless, as usual. The speech therapists came by to work with him and said that his throat muscles are doing "a lot better", so hopefully he'll be able to switch back to eating & drinking (orally) again really soon... Who knows, not too much happens over the weekends it seems. Physical therapy will not be coming by today, but will be by tomorrow to work with him. She had him up in the chair again this morning, however described him as "very weak" when moving in between the bed & chair.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Love, Hals

Silly Billy

Ted & Peggy Pierce

(Photo Courtesy of Ryan Robson... Again, Isn't He Awesome!?)

• Well, after Mom's afternoon visit... In honor of Dad's recent hallucinations/dreams/etc I figured a picture of his parents was appropriate. Dad has seen Grandpa 4 times lately (he told Mom). For those of you that don't know... Grandpa passed away in October, and we held an incredible yet small Military ceremony for him at the Georgia National Cemetary where his ashes are now buried... But apparently he is coming back to life in Dad's dreams and "wants to kick his ass" (pardon the profanity). HA! This is SO Grandpa... Perhaps he's a little disappointed in him for not taking care of himself lately, or maybe something more that I don't understand - But Grandpa is "silently" putting his foot down in Dad's dreams (he doesn't "speak" to him)! Hopefully this will only help Dad with a speedy recovery... :)

• On a more serious note... The Doctors have order a CAT Scan for Dad this afternoon. Today he cannot move his right arm (but can move his right leg), so they are slightly concerned that he may have had a small stroke during one of his cardiac episodes. :( I, of course, will let everyone know as soon as I hear the results from the scan. It is rare that a stroke will only affect the top portion of the body, however it is possible... I definitely noticed that while I was in town, but just thought it was because they had ALL his IVs going into his right arm... Anywho!?!?!?
  

Morning Update

Ryan Robson (My Cousin, Pam's Youngest) & Dad - Photo Courtesy of Ryan Robson

I think this was taken at Grandma & Grandpa's 50th...

Serena is his nurse again today... She is very nice! And I am going to have to put "foot in mouth" because whoever was visiting Dad this morning (Serena didn't catch his name) told him about my Blog, so Serena pulled it up on their computers & printed it out for him (apparently he's reading it as I type this...which is very cool) - I might have said a few frustrating things about some of his nurses throughout his ICU stay, so I APOLOGIZE!!! :)

His Potassium & Magnesium are still low today - They are giving him more through an IV right now to try and get those levels back up... Low Pot/Mag can lead to dangerous heart arithmias (sp?), which he obviously doesn't need. She is going to check his levels again in a little bit...

Serena said that he can still answer direct questions okay, but sometimes he seems to still be "talking out of his head"... They are still chalking it up to the heavy sedation he was on at this point.

Throat/Physical Therapy - The speech therapists are scheduled to work on his throat muscles today (he is still on TPN/IV Nutricion - Which Dr. Farless wants to keep him on for at least 1 more full day to re-assess his throat situation) - They never made it back yesterday unfortunately, grrrrrrr, which Serena said was most likely due to their busy schedule. He did finally get his "neck beard" shaved last night, so he should be good to go when they come by today. The physical therapists have already been by to work with him today - She thinks they just did therapy in bed, and didn't try to get him walking around - Although, he did get out of bed with the help of different nurses a few times over the last 24 hours to use the bedside toilet... Progess, I suppose!

I'M TURNING CATHOLIC!!!

OH MY GOODNESS! OH MY GOODNESS! OH MY GOODNESS! I just received a call back from the St. Vincent's Charity Financial Aid Program (I turned in a rather long application for Dad when I was in Birmingham) - Dad is APPROVED!! The social worker told me that when people get approved, it is generally anywhere between 20-100% of the total hospital bill... DAD GOT APPROVED FOR 100%!! THAT'S RIGHT - ONE-HUNDRED-PERCENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeeeeooooowwww!

I need to go shopping for some Rosary Beads.... Love y'all - Hallie

(Mom brought up a good point... that there is a chance we could still receive the individual Doctors' bills, however the business person didn't mention one word about that when asked "what else do I need to do"... So we'll see, I need to inquire)

Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!

I don't even know what to say about this one! Ha!

(Photo Courtesy of Kate Oatman)

Shaving the Beard

The Pierce Family

Ryan-Pam-Peggy-Ted-Hallie-Tapper-Judy-Miller-Billy-Karen-Bob-Bobby

(Photo Courtesy of Ryan Robson)

First of all... Please excuse my awkward adolescence in the above picture, however I know y'all are jealous of my overalls AND red socks - Eat your heart out! Mental Note: If I have a little girl, make sure to grow her bangs out when she's itty bitty (ahem, Mom). I love little Bobby's expression!!

Nurse Serena gave me the update about an hour ago... He is stable today, and his heart rate is normal. His blood pressure is a little high, but she said that seems to be "normal" for him. He is still on IV nutrients & medication (they had to switch back from pill form), as his throat muscles are not working. Nuss said during his visit last night that Dad was complaining he was "dying of thirst" (of course they're keeping him hydrated, his mouth is just dry), so he gave him a wet paper towel to suck on & he even coughed with that. The speech therapist came by this morning to start working with him - They attach little electrode stickers to the skin on his throat, and they stimulate the muscles through pain-free "shocks" - Anyone ever had that done to their back muscles at the chiropractor? Kinda like that (ahem, David Slade)! :) Anywho, they came by this morning and the stickers were pulling on what Serena called his "neck beard" so they are coming back later after she gives Dad a good shave. And that's all for now...

XOXO Hallie

Evening Update

(Photo Courtesy of Ryan Robson)

Mom spoke with nurse Amy today before she left (a nice one!)... He didn't do very well on the Barium Swallow Test and now is he not permitted ANY food or liquids at all until they get his throat muscles working again (he's not so happy about that one). Basically, his throat muscles are not working at all, and everything he swallows goes into his lungs... Very dangerous!! They have put him back on IV nutrician, and his orders are to work with a speech therapist on exercising his throat muscles back into shape. They expect a full recovery for those muscles, it just sometimes take time & therapy.

Heart - His heart went into the "flutter" again today (not sure if it was atrial or ventricular), but his heart rate stayed down around 100, and his blood pressure didn't move so Dr. Jones just ordered to nurses to monitor him closely instead of changing any medications, etc.

Confusion - Amy said that whenever she asked him direct questions (date, location, etc) that he was able to answer them correctly, however in between he seemed to still be getting a bit confused. They are not worried about anything at this point, since he is coming off of a long road of heavy sedation, but if his confusion continues into next week then they would order a Cat Scan to check for any brain damage... Snap out of it, Dad!!

All for now! Hals

Sitting in a Chair...

Another good morning has arrived! Dad is up and sitting in a chair, with no oxygen required through any sort of mask or nose tubes! The physical therapists were working with him this morning to try and get him to walk, but he didn't do so well with that... He'll slowly build his strength back. He is also having a hard time swallowing still, so they are taking him to the respiratory part of the hospital to perform a Barium Swallow Test - An x-ray test used to examine the upper digestive tract (esophagus, stomach & small intestine)... Hopefully this will help them in determining where the swallowing difficulties are coming from. He was feeding himself ice chips when I spoke to the nurse.

Ann Thomas called me from his hospital room and I was able to talk to him again... He was easier to understand & more talkative today than yesterday. Most of what he said made sense (mostly describing his current health situation with being thirsty & having trouble walking), but he did say some weird things too... I told him that I was coming home to see him in a week and he said, "oh yeah, you probably need some money" (now most people would think this was normal coming from a dad to his daughter, but not in our situation, ha)... Then he said "mom was here last night, and dad's alive again so I need to.... (something I couldn't understand)"... Seems like he's dreaming a bit... Hopefully that's all it is. It's really hard handling those types of awkward conversation moments over the phone!

I'm still worried about his heart, and am anxiously awaiting an update from Dr. Jones. All seems well right now, and I am upbeat - However, his heart problems haven't just disappeared... Hmmmm...?!

I wanted to share with everyone a preface to the book The Journey by Billy Graham - Thula Davis gave this to me early in Dad's hospital stay

(Thanks, Thula!!), and I also found it to be a great message...

"You can't change the past. Whatever has happened in your life so far - both good & bad - cannot be altered, and all the decisions and events that have made you what you are today are indelibly inscribed in the story of your life. But with God's help you can change the future - and that's what this book is all about. The future doesn't need to be a copy of the past, nor does God want it to be. No matter what your life has been like so far, God wants to put your feet on a new path... His path. And regardless of what you may have thought, His path promises joy and peace and purpose far beyond anything you could have imagined."

Love y'all! Hallie

Night Nurse: Courtney / Favorite Word - "Fine"

According to Dad's night nurse, he is doing "fine" (I'll punch the next person that says that word to me, ha). And with further digging I found... He is still requiring a little bit of oxygen, but he is still only getting it through the nose tubes (so much better than the face masks!). They are giving him regular breathing treatments through the small face mask, which are ordered every few hours or so just to break up any potential fluid in his lungs - She said that his lungs sound "fairly clear" right now, and that fluid in his lungs is not as big of a concern as his ability to swallow liquids... His throat muscles are most likely weak from being sick & on the ventilator, and therefore he is having a hard time getting watery liquids down the "right tube" - At this point, he cannot afford to have any other liquids get into his lungs (so, don't give into him begging for something to drink, visitors!!). They did remove the feeding tube, because he can now eat!! They said that today they have given him some thickened liquids (sort of honey/nectar-ish), and he had a few bites of dinner (she didn't know exactly what it was), but he doesn't seem to have an appetite right now. He is answering most of her questions appropriately, however seems a bit confused at times (not to worry though, I think). And his heart rate stayed stable throughout ALL of the visitors today (Kate, Ann, Lamar, Rudulph, etc.).

Thanks again to Kate for the call & picture - And to both Ann & Lamar who tried to get a hold of me at work during their visits (I was tied up with the most horrendous wedding clients EVER)!

Sweet Dreams! Hallie

Look How Pretty!

(Photo Courtesy of Kate Oatman, Dad's Awesome Neighbor)

Ohhhhh, goodness - Someone get that man a comb & fix his hair - And while you're at it, a razor too!! :) Kate sent me this picture from her visit this afternoon... He was talking a bunch, and I got to say hi again - Love that! He told me that he was feeling "still real beat up", and that his breathing was "improving"... He also told Kate to "shut up" when she told him that he couldn't get out of bed, and then called her a "nincumpoop" - I love when he has "Billy" moments! Today, is a good day... Keep it up, Dad!! And stay put in your darn bed, the last thing we need is a 56 year old with a broken hip...

"I'm in a Hospital in Birmingham!"

The Pierce Brothers: Tapper - Bobby - Billy (Photo Courtesy of Ryan Robson)

10:00am CST / Nurse - Amy (Very Nice!)

Well... So far so good... Amy just got finished giving him a bath, shampooing his hair & brushing his teeth & he's hanging in there nicely. His blood oxygen level is at 97% (which she says is fine), and they were even able to switch him from the smaller oxygen mask to a Nose Cannula (the short oxygen tubes in each nostril) - So now he has a mouth free of instruments, yay! They STILL have not been able to give him ice chips or water (I bet he's on their case about that one!), and they won't until the Speech Therapist makes his/her rounds to conduct a swallow study & the doctor then okays an order for him to start having liquids. His heart rate is holding steady in "sinus rhythm" (normal rhythm) at 98... Good for now! Amy also said that he is "very oriented" this morning, and chalks up yesterday's belligerence to simply coming off of all of the heavy sedation. She asked him if he knew where he was, and he responded "a hospital in Birmingham", but he couldn't say which one... Maybe this time it won't have "bad karma"...! :) She has unrestrained him, and says she made him "promise" not to pull on any IVs or tubes... When will thse poor nurses learn that of course he will promise, but as soon as they step out of the room... He'll be on his way to that vending machine for some Mountain Dew in no time (not that he could walk there yet, but...)! In all, Amy actually said that compared to the first time she saw him in the MICU that "Today, he looks like a completely new man!"

Love y'all tons! Hallie

P.S. If anyone goes up there today with a cell phone, I would love to say hi to him!! Call me at work - (805) 388-5000 x357

Scamobian...

... Scamobian is the language that Dad & I both speak in our sleep.  It's pretty hilarious, and to be honest, way better than speaking actual English since people can't understand what we're saying (and therefore hold it against us).  Anywho, Dad has been speaking fluent Scamobian ever since they pulled the tube.  Mom says he's more talkative than ever, very disoriented, and has no clue where he is.  The latest update from the night nurse is that he is completely "belligerent" - He keeps trying to get out of his bead (gosh, I hope that they keep a close eye on him!), and he's speaking a lot but not being understood.  They are not worried because of the "ICU Psychosis" that is commonly known to happen to people that have been sedated for a number of days, and he was sedated more this last time around than the previous two times he got off the ventilator... So, hopefully this can all be chalked up to some crazy dreams during sedation!  Most importantly, as of now, his numbers are good:

Blood oxygen level at 100%

Heart Rate fluttering between 90s/100s

I have requested a call from his Cardiologist (Dr. Jones) for a FULL report on his latest heart condition, long term prognosis, etc - And will fill y'all in ASAP.

Love you!  Hals

The Tube is Out!

They extubated him at about 4:30pm today... So far, so good according to my mom (who is there).  Waiting on her to call with more information - 

Mom says he is doing okay... He is "talking, talking, talking" but she can't understand a word he says (I need to be there to translate!)... Poor thing.  But I got to say hi to him (she held the phone up to his ear), and hear his scratchy voice through this oxygen mask - YAY!!  I loved it... Mom hung up the phone to see what else she could decipher from him before visiting hours ended... 

Dr. Strickland's Report

Dr. Strickland said that things are looking pretty good today... That Dad hasn't had anymore irregular heart rates in the last day and a half, and that his breathing on C-Pap has been going well yesterday & all last night... THEREFORE, if he is still doing okay within the next couple of hours they are going to take the ventilator out!!!  Fingers crossed big time...!!  Mom is on her way down there in a little bit, so I'll get a better update this afternoon, and hopefully be able to talk to him!!  XOXO

Same Ole, Same Ole

I spoke with nurse Teresa again, and she said that everything was the "same" as earlier - Boy am I getting tired of that word, ha. They had just finished giving him the unit of blood, and they were hoping that would help with this oxygen levels (since your red blood cells carry your oxygen). She wasn't sure if they were going to start C-Pap trials again tonight (breathing through the vent on his own) until the Respiratory Therapist rounded again. She pretty much said they would run labs again in the morning to determine what's next...

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend! I'm off to dinner with Jesse's parents... And we should all be jealous of Eddie & Tina Burg, who are headed to Telluride in the morning!

Dad & I on Silverstrand Beach (my home) - Christmas 2007

More Blood for Billy

Hellooooooooooo! Sorry for the short delay in posts, my weekends get pretty crazy out here with work...

I spoke to his nurse (Teresa, I think) this morning, and she needed my consent to give Dad some more blood... I guess his blood level is low, which could be due to a handful of different things according to the nurse: Fluid, Infection or "maybe he is bleeding somewhere and we haven't found out yet" (really nurse?! that last one sounded fabulous)... So, I said yes and they are giving him a unit of blood right now, which sounded like the only thing on their schedule for the day. This heart rate has gone down (80s/90s), but it is still "fluttering", so there are no plans of extubating him at this time. Cardiology was on their way down to check on him, so I'm going to have to call in a bit for a better update!

I can't wait to come home!! This phone/nurse thing is getting frustrating, ha!

Mom's Hospital Visit 1/23

Mom confirmed that nurse Joe is indeed awesome! A hurricane Katrina transplant...

Heart Rate - Regulated when she got there, but it started going up - So they had to start him on another Beta Blocker drip to try and get it to go down, but it still wasn't down when she left - They sedated him some more, with a combination of sedation & pain killers (ex. Vallum) to keep him not only sedated, but to let him sleep and avoid agitation... She said that it was pretty disturbing to watch the heart monitor because normally there is a large peak followed by a couple of smaller peaks, but Dad's monitor actually dips down because of the heart flutter...

Stool - He now has a bacteria in his stool that is very contagious - YOU MUST WASH YOUR HANDS IF YOU VISIT HIM... This can happen with people that have been in ICU for a lengthy amount of time, so they have now started him on yet another antibiotic...

Hallie & Jesse Visiting: Feb 7th - Feb 10th

Now everyone get your birthday party-pants on because Jesse and I are flying in on Saturday, February 7th (my birthday is the 11th)... Anywho, I CANNOT wait to be able to hold my dad's hand again, fetch him a large quantity of ice chips & see everyone!!! It's 2 weeks from tomorrow, so I'm crossing my fingers that we'll have some improvements before then & it will be good timing... Wish I could just be there the whole time!!

Come on Charlotte!!!

Good News / Bad News

GOOD NEWS: Dad is once again in the excellent hands of nurse Joe - Everyone give it up for Joe! He is one of those nurses with great bedside manner, and offers up a lot of information for those of us that are medically-challenged... Without me having to rack my brain for the appropriate questions to ask! He did tell me that he would hang up on me if something were to happen to dad while he was one the phone, but I guess I won't blame him for that one...

BAD NEWS: Everyone get your patience-pants on, because the tube is staying in for the moment! Dad is having some heart issues today, and until they get those under control, they want to be sure his airway is protected in the event that something crazy happened with this heart... Makes sense, darnit. His heart is going into Ventricular Bigeminy & Atrial Flutter...or abnormalities of the heart rhythm, resulting in a rapid and sometimes irregular heart beat (I think!?). Basically, his heart rate has been jumping from the 50s/60s to the 130s/140s. Joe had just called Cardio, and they were working on getting it under control. One of the steps they were taking was to switch his breathing treatments from Albuterol to Xopenex (sp?), which may help to keep his heart rate down. I told Joe I was worried that since this happened simply from them agitating him with a bath, what happens when he's out of the hospital & walks up one flight of stairs...? Joe said that it's definitely a long term concern that would require Dad to take regular Beta Blockers & perhaps get a Pacemaker to control his heart rhythm... He also said that it's tricky because the only way that Dad would know if this was happening outside of the hospital is that he would feel light-headed, or slightly sweaty - No big signs to call for help. Of course, right now they have him hooked up to the EKG to monitor his heart at all times. Gosh - Seems like if we could just start paying rent in the ICU he'd be fine (I guess technically we are, ha)... But that's more expensive than even California rent! :)

Mom is stopping by the hospital today, so maybe she'll have more information in a little while...

Blah Night Nurse

Just spoke to Britney, Dad's night nurse... I definitely won't mind when it's her night off, ha...  Okay, okay... She said - 

1. "Everything is pretty much the same"

2. "I'm not sure about recent liver stats"

3. "His fluid seems fine, I haven't gotten much out tonight"

4. "They are still planning to extubate tomorrow"

5. What Time?  "I'm not sure"

6. Anything else I should know? "Nope, everything is pretty much the same"

Keep your fingers crossed for a successful extubation tomorrow!

And a big thanks to Eddie Burg, Bobby Shaw, Billy Hartsfield, etc who are so generously looking after me getting home another time in the near future... Maybe February 7th...?  It's so hard not being there to be ordered around by Dad for "some Mountain Dew damnit, and no don't ask the nurses"!!  :)

No Extubation Today...

The 4 Trafs: Fig (Lamar) Craigarina (Greg) Chuckles (Billy) Nuss (Steve)

Goooooooood Morning!

Well, I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up! I spoke with his nurse a few minutes ago - Joe - Who said that Dr. Strickland & Dr. Farless had just made rounds... They decided their goal now would be to extubate tomorrow, since Joe was still pulling a lot of fluid off of his lungs. Since he has been productive in suctioning the fluid out mechanically, they decided to leave him on the ventilator in hopes that they could get even more fluid off of his lungs instead of leaving him solely responsible for coughing it up on his own, which is one of the reasons why he had to be re-intubated two times. I didn't realize he still had so much fluid down there... He also said that there is a chance that Dr. Strickland could round again this afternoon, see that Dad is doing well, and change his mind to take the tube out today, but he wouldn't know that until later. Joe did inform me that they lowered the settings on the vent even more, so that now it is "puffing" his airways open even less, which means he's doing that much more on his own. And they are continuing to keep him a bit more sedated because each time he wakes up he becomes agitated and reached for the tube... Joe said you only get one strike pulling the tube out yourself - Which he has already used up, ha - So he is sedated, resting & restrained!

Joe also said that the tube feeding is going "so well that he is requesting that the dieticians lower the amount of fiber in the mixer"... HA... Way to digest, Dad!

More to come later...

PM Update

I spoke with his night nurse - Britney...

She said that they were able to keep him on "C-Pap" trials alllllll day today - YAY!  This means he has been breathing on his own all day through the ventilator, and it is simply keeping his airways puffed open.  Since he did so well today, they are going to keep him on the same settings through the night (instead of increasing to mechanical breaths) - And the orders right now from Dr. Strickland are to extubate tomorrow as long as he stays strong throughout the night & morning.  She also said that his stomach is still tolerating the tube-feeding well, and she has reduced both his sedation & heart rate medication - which are both doing well (heart rate in 70s, wow!)...

Let's all hope that the 3rd time is the charm!!

Love, Hallie

Visitors...

Lynn Russell Davis Wrote:

Billy is still sedated but great news…he’s breathing all on his own (still has the ventilator just in case) but if he keeps up; tomorrow might be the day he gets it OUT! He was fast asleep! 3rd floor MICU... Blessings! Lynn

Ann Thomas Wrote:

Hey, thanks for the Santa pic, that is a hoot, I can JUST imagine! I am going to see Bill Bob this afternoon and will let you know how he and the room are! Sounds like he's making progress, yea! I went early yesterday morning to put the TV on so he could say (whether he likes it or not!) he saw our new president get sworn in! Can't wait for that conversation! Charlie(the respetory therapist) said his vent was 2 down from the day before, yea again! Love! -Ann

MICU - Day 2

Morning!!

Not much to update this morning… His nurse today, Anna Kate, said that he is “very awake” and his vital signs all look great. The pulmonary doctor hasn’t made his rounds yet today to change the orders, so they are going to go ahead and start him on another breathing trial now (like yesterday), to hopefully keep the good streak going – Then if he has more positive labs by the time the doctor rounds, maybe he’ll be that much closer to getting off that darn machine! Fingers crossed…

She also said that his stomach is doing well with the tube feeding… YAY!

Has anyone visited him in his new room yet? I’d love to hear about the MICU…

Attached - When dad came out to spend Christmas 2007 with me in California, we served dinner at a nursing home on Christmas Eve… They roped Dad into dressing up as Santa and passing out gifts… As anyone that knows him can imagine, he made the worst, most sarcastic Santa that you’ve ever seen – He had the old people rolling on the ground, ha!!!!

Love, Hals