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...