For those of you who aren't aware, Tacy's dad was involved in a car accident on Tuesday. He hit some black ice, lost control of the car, and hit a tree. He was driving a friend's Envoy, which we are fairly certain is totaled. Both airbags deployed (fracturing 3 ribs) and the driver's seat returned to it's "memory" position for the regular driver, who is several inches shorter than dad. The result was dad's head plowing into the roof of the car, resulting in a concussion and brain hemorrhaging. Due to the blood thinners he is on to protect his artificial heart valve, once dad begins bleeding, he does so for a long time. After being seen in the Trauma Center at the Reading Hospital, he was admitted into the Surgical Intensive Care (SICU). He was given Blood Products (Plasma followed by Platelets) in order to quickly thicken his blood and Vitamin K in order to counteract his Cumidin (blood thinner). He had both a NEurologist (monitoring his brain) and a Cardiologist (monitoring his heart) working with his primary Trauma Doctor in order to chose the best course of action for dad.
Dad came home from the SICU yesterday (Friday). He looks good, but is still very sore (ribs) and very tired.
They have decided to readmit dad on Wednesday for one week in order to begin administering blood thinners where they can also monitor his brain activity. This way, they will know immediately if his brain begins to bleed again after they start thinning his blood. They will be giving him both oral Cumidin (which takes a while to build up to the correct levels in his system) and IV Heparin (which begins to act more quickly.) This decision was a compromise between the Cardiologist's and Neurologist's wishes as well as addressing mom's concern that he not be at home when the blood thinners were begun since she will have no way to determine if pressure is building on the brain. We were told that they signs to watch for regarding brain pressure were: general confusion and words being used incorrectly -- all symptoms which have been present since dad's lengthy heart surgery in November, 2003.
Dad will be going to floor R3, which is not as carefully observed as an ICU floor, but has a better nurse to patient ratio (1:6) than a regular floor. It is what is known as a "step-down" unit. They also have all the moitoring systems on this floor as they have on the ICU floors. He will be allowed to have regular visitors, including the grandchildren, he will have more privacy, and a personal bathroom -- all pluses over the ICU floor.
Dad was diagnosed as Diabetic on Friday morning. Apparently, it was written into his charts on Thursday, but he didn't learn about it until he received his diabetic breakfast Friday morning. He was sent home on insulin in order to help get his sugar levels back to normal ranges following the accident. (Trauma of any sort will cause sugar levels in the body to climb. This, on top of his already high levels is why they want him on insulin.) The eventual goal is to wean him off insulin and manage his Diabetes with diet and exercise.
Please, don't hesitate to call/email Scott & I with questions or requests for updates. We are only too happy to keep everyone up-to date. Obviously, mom is a little busy caring for dad. Dad does love to have phone calls (such a people guy) so don't heistate to call him. If he's tired, he'll let you know.
And, as always, prayers are very appreciated!
Lovingly,
Tacy
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