My Dad... and a WARNING! NOT that O/T...

That is a huge bummer best wishes

 

That's terrible to hear. Keep your head up.

 

saying a prayer.

 

may Creator watch over your dad my prayers go out for all of your family .how bout a snail mail address for his hospital room with a sticky to keep it in sight so we can fill his walls with get well cards for when he comes out of this because right now it sure sound like he will fight his way back

 

Yow! Prayers and strength directed to your father and your family and you.

 

Your dad has our prayers and get well wishes!

 

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers guys...

As soon as I can talk to him again, I'm gonna print all of this out and read it to him... it means a lot to me, and I'm sure it will mean a lot to him.

Even though he's not too computer saavy, he loves the HAMB (I have to navigate it for him! ), and has commented upon several occasions how much he likes every HAMBer he's met...



I just got home from the hospital...
Not much has changed...


They're letting women talk to him now, as it seems to calm him down, but everytime he hears a male voice he tenses up A LOT!

Although... he had a few rough spells today, and everytime me, my brother, or my mom walked into the room, his vitals would all mellow right out, and you could actually see him relax... we didn't even have to say a word; he just knew we were there!


His blood pressure, heart rate, and temp seem to be pretty normal/stable, but they're having problems with the trach...
Apparently, now htat the swelling's going down, the tube is loose in the hole, so there's a lot of air leaking around it...
They've tried using rolled up towels and stuff to keep his head straight, which minimizes the leakage, but it doesn't seem to be working...

It seems like a pretty minor deal in the grand scheme of things...


They also have him in some fancy new bed that changes positions and angles, as well as having a built in massager...
Apparently, it's to keep the lung from hardening, to help prevent pneumonia, and to help prevent bedsores.
Whenever it starts to move, it scares the hell out of him. He tries to sit up or whatever, and they have his hands restrained so he can't rip out any of the plumbing, and I think it freaks him out even more when he can't move, and it just get's worse!
If my mom's in there to talk him through it, he's alright, but if she's not, you can tell he gets pretty panicked...


I guess how tonight and tomorrow morning go are going to be the deciding factors on if/when they induce a coma.


On a lighter note, they stitched his face up and removed all of the packing today...
This was just a quick "close 'em up" job, and it looks great. It just looks like a really bad split lip.
Once they him put it together the "right" way, I bet it'll be hard to tell anything ever even happened!

But, we've already stressed that we don't care about any of that shit... he was pretty funny looking before, so we don't care if he looks a little funnier now! We just want to make sure he's gonna be around...


That brings me to another point!

I'm normally a realist, almost to a fault, so I'm trying not to get TOO excited about this, but...
The first night they told us that they weren't even going to think about any of the other stuff until they knew if he was going to survive the lung injury...
While they still won't give us his "odds", a plastic surgeon's coming in to check him out tomorrow! I don't know if it means what I'm taking it to mean, but hey, I'll take what I can get!!!



Anyway, thanks again for all of the thoughts and prayers guys... it really does mean a lot to all of us!

Steve

 

He's in the ICU, so I don't know how much junk we can throw in there, but...

If anyone wants to send a card, you can send it to my shop, and I'll take it up to him.

Tom Filpansick
c/o Consolidated Ink & Steel
107 W Kearsley St
Flint MI 48502


Thanks again guys!
Steve

 

I'd say it's a good sign. Stable vital signs are a good thing too. The main thing now is to prevent pneumonia and secondary infection from bacteria. They'll be watching heartrate, blood pressure, and temperature pretty closely for a while. It's possible to live with just one lung.
Hang tight and don't let yourself get overstressed.

 

Your dad will be in my prayers too.

 

This is all true, and as far as the trach having an air leak it is just messy not all bad. Most of them have a balloon cuff and can be inflated to make a better seal if needed. If it was my Dad there I would want him sedated (in a induced coma), then there is no need for the restraints. It also allows for more relaxation in the lungs and allows that fancy beds percussion mode to work better (thats the vibration) and allows for oppening of the avili (lung sacks) preventing pneumonia. He will look worse and not be able to communicate, scarry I know, but will heal faster. Don't let anyone with a cold or any other sign of infection in his room if you can, and if they must visit insist on them getting a mask. Secondary infections at this point can make things significantly worse. I wish your family all the best, and our dad a speedy recovery. Useless aka ICU RN.

 

Sorry about your dad.
I wish you and your family the best of luck.
- HoB

 

Best Wishes to your Pops!
We almost lost my Dad a couple of years back. Some dim-bulb in a minivan T-boned his car BAD. He went from a farmer-tanned block of iron to a grey shadow on a gurney. Really rocked me back when I saw him. Spent weeks in ICU with broken ribs, blod clots and all kinds of scary stuff. Recovery took some time, but you can't keep them tough old "sumbitches" down. Sounds like your Dad's made from similar stuff. Hope all turns out well for him.
Thoughts and prayers.

 

Thanks for the update Steve. Again, let us know if we can help. Prayers to continue.

Frank

 

That's horrible, I hope your dad makes a full recovery.

This sickens me, totally avoidable.

 

Steve,
Thanks for the update. I've been thinking about him a lot and it's good to know there are some positive signs. He will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers.

 

I just breathed a huge sigh of relief.

I'm glad you have this positive turn. Its good to see you smile... even through the computer.
Mike

 

when i hear shit like this it brings tears to my eyes, no one should have to go through crap like ur pop has. my thoughts & prayers go out to ur family & i hope ur pop has a speedy recovery.....joe

 

My heart goes out to you man. This hits home real hard for me 'cause at the end of July we lost my dad to an avoidable accident. He was my best friend all my life, I can tell ‘cause I still got his boot print on my ass. I'd give anything to have one more talk with him. Your dad's going to pull through man, just keep the faith and pray, I’ll do the same on this end.

God Bless

 

Just seen this ,All the best for your dad ,shit like that should not happen to good people hard workin people .

 

prayers sent!!

 

Thanks for the update, I will come down to the shop later this week. -Joe

 

Wow. Best of luck, we're all pulling for him.

 

My prayer today is for your old man......

 

I'm not really a prayer, Im atheist but I've got my fingers crossed for your dad man. Sounds like hes hanging in there strong and should be alright over time considering. I'll keep hoping for the guy, hang in there man.

 

prayers out to ya'll...
nic

 

Hey man, to try to give you a little hope in this hour, this happened to a dad of a friend of mine. Almost exact same situation, except it was with a '70s Caddy. Friends dad had 2nd and 3rd degree burns over 90% of his head. That was about 8 months ago. To look at him now, youd NEVER guess he in such a bad accident. Hope this can help ya in the smallest of ways, at least. What you said about being with your dad is absolute truth. My dad and I are very close and I wouldn't know what to do without him. My thoughts will be with you.

 

my mother just had major brain tumor removal surgery and she pulled through. all i can say is be there as much as possible. best wishes,axle

 

that is a terrible thing to happen i dont even kno what to tell you

 

Just met you guys Thursday night and hope to see both of you next year!
Clark