Dad

[Janet]

Keeping you and your dad in prayer Paula.

[paula1961]

He is still in critical condition. His kidneys have shut down. His dialysis was done late today. We couldn't see him until after 8:30 tonight. He was sleeping soundly. So we all went back to our motel rooms. God works miracles. So just keep praying for him.

They took out the cath from the groin area yesterday and put another one in on the right side of his chest. It will last about 30 days before it will have to be changed. I'm so confused about all of this. His icd is on the left side so obviously they can't put it there. I knew something was terribly wrong when they put him on diladid thru his iv and still haven't taken him off of it. That was 3 weeks yesterday. I don't think they are telling us everything. I'm sorry if I don't explain things real well but after you hear so much info it kindda all runs together.

For those of you that don't know what diladid is. It is a pain med more powerful than morphine.

Will try to update tomorrow. Love you all!!

[judy]

Oh Paula...this is a hard time for you. I am praying for all of you.

[donna1990]

I am praying. God is listening to our prayers right now.

[gja1000]

Paula, it is very confusing, especially when several things are going on all at once. I''m unsure why they were giving him Dilaudid. There's really nothing related to heart failure or kidney failure that usually causes pain - so it is a mystery to me. You might ask them why they are giving it to him.

[JJJ]

Was hoping to hear some good news.

[paula1961]

Originally Posted by gja1000

Paula, it is very confusing, especially when several things are going on all at once. I''m unsure why they were giving him Dilaudid. There's really nothing related to heart failure or kidney failure that usually causes pain - so it is a mystery to me. You might ask them why they are giving it to him.

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to this thread. When he went in there 4 wks ago, he went for severe stomach pain. They started him on the diladid for that. Still don't know for sure what was causing the pain. Maybe pancreatitus or prostate infection. They never figured that one out He does have gout really bad too. So I guess that would explain the diladid. Fast forward to 2 weeks or so ago....I've lost all track of time. Sorry.

He was on Teakison (sp?) that works with his icd. They said his heart was overloaded with it and it also attacks the kidneys. They took him off that and put him on Mexalatine. He doesn't deal well with that. It gives him tremors really bad. His creatine count shot up to almost 6. That's when they started dialysis.
Yesterday they took him off the Mexalatine and while he was eating dinner, his icd shocked him Last night they started him back on the mexalatine. Sigh... Bless his heart!

I hope this makes a little bit of sense you all. He had a really good morning Sunday. He walked to the nurses station on a walker. And now he's having a bad time again. Keep him in your prayers please. They did move him to an intermediate care room so we can pretty much come and go as we please. So that's a good thing. I am going back down there tomorrow. I'll stay a couple of nights at least. My poor Mom is worn out. Thanks for your continued prayers. I love you all.

[DianaB]

Your Dad is really going through a lot. I know that it's stressful for you and your Mom. I'm praying. Hugs!!!

[gja1000]

Oh Paula! This is so hard for your whole family, including your dad. I wish there were an easier way, but healing is a slow process, especially as we age. I hope he begins to rally and feels better soon.

[paula1961]

Thanks all! Gayle have you heard of these meds that they are using with his icd?

[lynne b]

prayers are still going out to your dad and family. I am sorry you are having to go through this.

[gja1000]

Mexalatine is a medication used to treat ventricular arrythmias. Ventricular arrythmias (sometimes called V-tach, pronounced Vee-Tack) is the medical term for a very bad heart beat where the bottom part of the heart beats very fast, so fast that the heart cannot pump out any blood. Left untreated, a person will die of V-tach. An ICD will fire when the heart goes into a V-tach rhythm. The ICD firing will bring the heart back to a normal rhythm. Mexalatine is a drug used to control V-tach. Unfortunately, most of the medications used to treat V-tach are very strong and have many side effects.

I'm not familiar with Teakison - maybe it is Tenormin or Tambocor. They are used to control V-tach too. All those drugs are nasty with lots of side effects - but one cannot live with V-tach, so it has to be controlled. It's a double edged sword.

[JJJ]

My heart goes out to you, I hope meds are just making him look sicker than what he really is. Big huggs going your way.

[paula1961]

Dad is still in the hospital! Today he had SLED dialysis. It lasted over 10 hours. They got 22 lbs of fluid off of him. Please keep him still in your prayers. Janet has your Mom ever had this kind of dialysis done? Just curious. I'm going back down tomorrow.

[gja1000]

Hi Paula, thanks for the update on your dad. Janet's mom has probably not had SLED dialysis because it is used for persons who are very sick. It's just a slower way to do regular hemodialysis (where the blood is filtered through the machine to remove the toxins and wastes). Regular hemodialysis takes 3-4 hours, but SLED is done over 8-10 hours because people who are very ill can't tolerate the loss of fluid so quickly - so it is done slower.