My Dad is in the hospital

[shirleymahoney]

he has had a cold and yesterday he woke at 5 am with a fever and nausea so I said he was going to the hospital got him there and he was in A-Fib and heart failure and now they say he has pneumonia, so please keep him in your thoughts he is 90 and don't know if he will pull through this one or not he is having a time with his breathing and he is also wheezing alot they are giving him breathing treatments and antibiotics, so we will see

Shirley

[Reenie]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

I hope your dad can fight and get over this.

Reenie

[Pam Alexson]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

Shirley ,

So sorry to hear of the new struggle with regards to your dad's failing health. Please know that you and your dad are in my thoughts and prayers.

Pam

[Burton Borrok]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

Shirley,
When I went into the hospital they said I was in a-fib, had pneumonia, erratic heart rate, needed a pacer, had something growing in my lungs, (out for biopsy), etc etc. I had a h+ll of a time of it for a spell, but I’m feeling much better today. OK, I’m only 74 and your dad is 90 so there is a great difference there, but I think the biggest thing for seniors is wanting to continue to live.

The doctors will do whatever they can for him, but it’s up to you to keep him interested in things and wanting to continue living. That’s no small task, but I’ve seen too many friends just say, “That’s enough – I don’t want any more” and sit down and die. This is especially true if they are not feeling well or hurting. In the hospital I concentrated on going to my grandchildren’s weddings and that kept me going. I hope your dad has similar luck.
Burt

[Virginia]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

Shirley,

Hopefully all goes well and he comes home soon. Keep the faith.

Virginia

[angall]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

Hi Shirley

So sorry to hear about your dads failing health.

I must agree with Bart....the will to live means so much to getting well again (that and prayers).

Know that you and your dad are in my prayers. Let him know that we here at HCMA are thinking and praying for him.

Keep us updated

[Lisa Salberg]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

Shirley,

I am sending my best wishes to you and your dad. I hope he is comfortable and is well aware of how much he is cared about.
Best wishes,
Lisa

[shirleymahoney]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

Well today Dad is not doing so well he seems to be retaining alot of fluid to the point he doesn't want to eat, he is getting sick to his stomach, they have him on prednizone and that worries me he has kidney damage that he had before he was put in the hospital. really worried about him, I can never catch the doctor when he comes in to ask why all this medicine, Keep him in your prayers

Shirley

[angall]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

Hi Shirley

Sorry to see that your dad isn't getting any better. In regards to falking to your dad's doctors, why don't you mention to the nurses fhat you need to talk to him and they will page him if he is in the hospital. If he isn't in the hospital when they page him ask the nurse to give him a message and then he can call you when he has time.

I will continue to pray for your dad.

Thanks for the update. I know this must be hard on you, so please take care.

[shirleymahoney]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

Esther

The doctor I think is really busy because I have left a message daily for him to call me I have left my dad's cell phone # because I'm carrying it with me at all times now, I had a run in with him the first night he kept telling me hypertention and HCM was the same thing and I said no it's not I told him I have it and I've never had high BP in my life unless it was induced and I finally said I wanted a cardiologist to look at my dad, he could take care of his cold but not his heart, well it is pneumonia but I guess I was being a smartelic so I called my heart doctor and he wasn't in so they sent over another a Dr. Paul Mahoney he looked at him and said he had alot of fluid on him I think his heart is getting very weak from all this he got pneumonia last year too it seems if he gets a cold and it turns to pneumonia. he has had his shots he got his pneumonia shot 2 years ago and he has had a flu shot every year, well enough of my blubbering I'm going to stay at the hospital tomorrow all day tomorrow and I will see his dr's

Shirley

[Burton Borrok]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

Shirley,
I know that fluid can really weigh you down and make you feel rotten. It can be very counter productive to getting well also. Honestly I think the difference between CHF and pneumonia is more who you are talking to then the condition itself. During my last hospital stay I had both – or so they said. I also had blood clots in the lungs so I guess it was a bit more tricky as it took a bronchoscope to clear the blood clots.

Anyway, I don’t do particularly well with diuretics since I continued to retain the fluids even with 160mg of lasix, but one dialysis treatment and I’m ten pounds lighter. They might not be able to be so aggressive with your dad since I also take Quinine to prevent or ease the cramping problems, but I think they could do him a world of good to get off at least some of that excess fluid. I would suggest asking his doctor about it. If they also started quinine with him they just might be able to get him out of trouble and ease the workload on his heart.

Now I’m not a doctor, and I may be way off base – but what could it hurt to explore the possibility with his doctors? I’d sure like to see him hit 100. Once again I will send any spare energy his way tonight. There’s a whole lot of people pulling for you both.
Burt

[Pam Alexson]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

Shirley ,

It really is tough trying to find one doctor who might have expertise of a patients entire system. It can be so frustrating ! Imagine if we took our cars to the mechanic and had to go to every imaginable garage for every sytem. People should surely be treated well and doctors need to take care of all a patients needs or consult with specialists to do just this. I personnally am very tired of talking to medical people who are clueless about the big picture.

I think Burt has a point . So many times the fluid overload is just summarized as pneumonia. We know that, that is what happens with excess fluid and it is just too bad that a patients fluid issues have to end in pneumonia. I can not tell you how many times I was in CHF and they said: "pneumonia."

I hope you are able to speak directly to your dad's doc today.

Thinking of you and your dad .

Pam

[angall]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

Shirley

It's bad enough knowing how sick your dad is, now you have to try and catch the doctor. I know from experience with my mom, husband and children when I would let nurses know I wanted to talk to them, he would call me. One time I wanted to talk face=to-face with my mothers dr., so I found out what time he usually made his rounds and was there when he came to my mothers hospital room. There is another option for you.

I hope you soon get some answers. I continue to pray for your dad.

Please keep us posted.

[shirleymahoney]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

Esther

I stayed with my dad for 12 hours today and the only one that came in was his nurse practioner well I started talking to her and she has decided to take an x-ray of his stomach and has ordered teds stockings for his legs, his poor stomach looks like a beach ball has been inflated in him and is as tight as a drum and they wonder why he can't breath, he may go home tomorrow but I said not until the fluid has come off a bit or I believe he will be right back, Thanks for the prayers we could use them and now to top it all off I have a cold or my CHF has started acting up on me I have the symptoms of coming down with the flu but my belly is as tight as a drum tonight, I have taken extra lasix tonight so i look to get very little sleep tonight

Shirley

[Laoshur]

Re: My Dad is in the hospital

Shirley,

Please rest and let your body heal. I continue to pray for both you and your father.

Rhoda