Monday - Update (6/4)

It's been a quiet week (hence the lack of updates). Dad was by himself for the past 5 days, which afforded him lots of time to catch up on his sleep.

Each time I spoke to him on the phone his speech was slurred, and it seemed to happen after they were playing with his blood pressure meds. Since then he has been sleeping much much more, and has been very "out of it" when he answers the phone.

His parents are with him now. They noticed that Scott has been hallucinating, quite frequently in fact. I knew that he had no concept of time, but he has been reaching for "real" objects that disappear when he is close to grabbing them. Like a cup of coffee or his laptop. The items are, in fact, not there at all, but he sees them, reaches for them, and they vanish. His father spoke to the floor doctor and brought her attention to this. She was concerned and would contemplate a brain scan to see what might be causing this. His hemoglobin level of 8 would NOT be culprit, she says. Scott is no longer on heart meds, only anti-biotics. So they do not know what might be happening (or happened), but at least they are aware of it now and they will continue to investigate. We hope it's just his tiredness and nothing more severe.

During this conversation, his father also asked a number of questions that I'm sure you each have on your mind, so here goes:

Q: Why does he still have 2 tubes in him?
A: One is for his incision, and the other is in his abdomen (which is draining fluid caused by the trauma of the surgery).

Q: Is there still a leak in his abdomen?
A: Yes, there is still a hole in his digestive system, where his stomach and small intestine meet. The healing time is much longer because of the anti-rejection drugs Scott is on (for his kidney transplant).

Q: When will he be given something to drink or eat?
A: Today, the nurses will give him some tea and see how he does with that (to see if there is any leaking).

Q: Will the hole close and heal?
A: Yes, but it will be at LEAST 2 WEEKS until it does. (this means Dad is stuck in PA for another 2 weeks).

Q: Will he heal entirely?
A: Yes.

Q: Will he recovery fully (mental, physical)?
A: Yes.

Q: Will he be able to process and digest whole foods eventually?
A: Yes.

So a mix of good news and just-ok news, but nothing bad. We wish he could be closer to us, but are thankful his family is willing to spend so much time away from home to visit him. If you have specific questions, feel free to comment on the blog or send me a note, and I'll get an answer for you as soon as I can!

Adam