Dad's health crisis
I'm making this posting mainly so I have a record of the last few weeks, so I'm putting it behind a cut. Of course, you're welcome to read it, but it may not be very exciting!
My last post mainly told about the seeming back trouble my dad was having. Nothing seemed to get much better, and no doctor seemed to really be able to say what was happening for quite a while. He finally had an MRI last Friday (6/18), with an expected visit to a pain management doctor/orthopedic guy on Wednesday this week.
However, things got much worse over the weekend: vomiting (seemingly from the effort of walking), some confusion (maybe from slight dehydration or lack of nutrition, since nothing was "tasting good"). During the night Saturday, he made his way to the bathroom and fell down. Fortunately, he didn't hurt himself. My sister told me the next day that he was even more confused. One of her stories of some stuff he had said reminded me a little of things people sometimes start saying as they begin nearing death, so I was pretty upset that day. I considered flying back, but I had jury duty scheduled for Monday (which I found out later was postponed until Tuesday), and my mom and sister were planning to take Dad to the hospital on Monday anyway.
At the hospital, it was determined that he had acute kidney failure (they classified it as acute since labs done in early May showed no signs of kidney problems). The first couple of days were still a little troubling, with information hard to come by. Thankfully, he is doing better now. He's having an angiogram tomorrow to check stents in both renal arteries, as the doctors suspect that they are at least partially occluded. Hopefully, they will be able to determine that for sure and fix it if possible.
Strangely, he is walking fine now, with no hint of back problems, so there is some question as to whether there was ever any REAL back pain, or whether it was kidney-related all along.
Mom was happy that the hospitalist actually brought up the idea of discharge, although no specific day was mentioned.
I'm glad he's doing better now. Still, I have the feeling that things have entered a new phase with my dad. I can't help but think that his circulation and heart issues, in addition to his diabetes, are going to impact his life, and my mom's, more and more as time goes on. I guess I would be surprised if he lives another 5 years. I'm not really sad to think this, instead I realize that I need to be sure to spend as much time as reasonable with him and my mom.
My last post mainly told about the seeming back trouble my dad was having. Nothing seemed to get much better, and no doctor seemed to really be able to say what was happening for quite a while. He finally had an MRI last Friday (6/18), with an expected visit to a pain management doctor/orthopedic guy on Wednesday this week.
However, things got much worse over the weekend: vomiting (seemingly from the effort of walking), some confusion (maybe from slight dehydration or lack of nutrition, since nothing was "tasting good"). During the night Saturday, he made his way to the bathroom and fell down. Fortunately, he didn't hurt himself. My sister told me the next day that he was even more confused. One of her stories of some stuff he had said reminded me a little of things people sometimes start saying as they begin nearing death, so I was pretty upset that day. I considered flying back, but I had jury duty scheduled for Monday (which I found out later was postponed until Tuesday), and my mom and sister were planning to take Dad to the hospital on Monday anyway.
At the hospital, it was determined that he had acute kidney failure (they classified it as acute since labs done in early May showed no signs of kidney problems). The first couple of days were still a little troubling, with information hard to come by. Thankfully, he is doing better now. He's having an angiogram tomorrow to check stents in both renal arteries, as the doctors suspect that they are at least partially occluded. Hopefully, they will be able to determine that for sure and fix it if possible.
Strangely, he is walking fine now, with no hint of back problems, so there is some question as to whether there was ever any REAL back pain, or whether it was kidney-related all along.
Mom was happy that the hospitalist actually brought up the idea of discharge, although no specific day was mentioned.
I'm glad he's doing better now. Still, I have the feeling that things have entered a new phase with my dad. I can't help but think that his circulation and heart issues, in addition to his diabetes, are going to impact his life, and my mom's, more and more as time goes on. I guess I would be surprised if he lives another 5 years. I'm not really sad to think this, instead I realize that I need to be sure to spend as much time as reasonable with him and my mom.