Last Night & This Morning

Hola!  Last night's nurse was WONDERFUL - Jennifer - She spent a long time on the phone with me... Not too much new information, but here goes...

• Throat - They found an esophageal block in Dad's throat.  They were attempting to put a feeding tube into his stomach through his nose to get him off of IV nutrition (both the nurses, then radiology tried), however they couldn't even get the tube into his esophagus because there was something blocking the opening.  She didn't know what "it" was... Perhaps a swollen muscle, or something like that... She said they were going to do more therapy with him today, and she thought there was processes that they may look into that would dialate his esophagus... Hmmmmm...?  This sounded like the main concern at this point.
• Disorientation - She said that he seemed much more oriented last night than he had the night before (when he fell), which was definitely nice to hear.  He was being super grumpy-pants with her, and she actually said to him, "Now, Mr. Pierce you don't need to be hateful with me..." - He told her he didn't mean to be, and then had a nice conversation with her about how he just feels so "restricted & uncomfortable" from all of the IVs, etc in his arms (he has things going in both arms & a blood pressure thingy that has to measure his blood pressure every hour while he's on the amioderon (sp?) drip for his heart rate).  She said that he did seem to be "forgetful" and asked if he was like that prior to his hospital stay, which I answered no, and she just said "hopefully that'll wear off."  She also said he listened to the radio yesterday and watched a movie.
• Catheter - It's out!  I bet he's happy about that... :)

Velba's Morning Report - He didn't sleep well last night (what's new).  They are going to have to wait until he finishes his swallow studies before they move forward with any feeding tube or oral feedings... They are doing more stimulating therapy on his throat today.  Physical therapy also had him walking around yesterday, and she's sure they'll be back around today as well.  His vital signs are stable.  She said right now he was "resting".  I always want to know what he's doing when I call - Ha, they probably think that's  weird, non-medical question!

I have requested a Doctor's conference for Sunday or Monday when Jesse & I are in town so that I can get another "full" update and "what to expect/how to move forward" kind of report... Hopefully that is helpful in determining his quality of life, and how he can live with his heart problems, etc.  

XOXO Hals