Happy Easter, a.k.a. Put Your Dad in the ER Day
April 09, 2007
I admitted my father to the emergency room Saturday afternoon. He had been sickly for the past few weeks and with some steady complaining to his dialysis staff, they gave him a couple of intravenous antibiotics the weekend before last. He felt better for a few days, then his symptoms returned (fever, chills, nausea, et al).
The tech assisting Dad appeared very worried, more worried than myself, when his temperature rose to 103° and was too weak to sit or stand up on his own. Under a supervising doctor's recommendation, we called an ambulance to transport him to a nearby hospital to which he had been admitted a year ago for a minor surgery. He was stubborn, he didn't want to go. He wasn't fighting it with vigor, but I could see a tinge of fear in his eyes. I wanted to tell him that the hospital is not necessarily the place where people go to die, but I didn't want to bring "death" into the open only to worry him more.
I vividly recall the expression on the dialysis technician's face (whose name I do not know). I can only assume she had multiple thoughts colliding in a massive imaginary pileup with death and fire and grim reapers strewn about. It almost seemed as though she has seen something traumatic under similar circumstances and had silently predicted the outcome of the current ordeal. The ambulance arrived a few minutes later and I thanked her for her help. "Good luck," she timidly replied.
We arrived at the hospital and he was admitted into the ER where the attending doctor confirmed my father contracted another blood infection. He had a similar (worse) infection a couple years ago due to a temporary venous catheter that was inserted into his chest when he was diagnosed with kidney failure. About a year ago he had an arteriovenous graft surgically installed to allow for easier hemodialysis treatments and less complications with clots and infections. The infected graft must be removed to allow for healing and another temporary catheter will be inserted in his chest. I hope his medical caretakers will be keep a close eye on it because it's obvious he will easily succumb to infections. After a few months, he'll have surgery for another graft since it is, afterall, a better alternative to the catheter.
He is deathly bored and irritated that the nurses won't let him get up and move around. Due to the overwhelming amount of patients at this hospital, the regular hospital beds were full, so they assigned him to the cardiovascular intensive care unit where one nurse tends to only two patients. However, it looks as though he thoroughly enjoys having people wait on him and appease his every beck and call. I'm betting his apprehension towards hospitals may wane after this stay.
He's responding very well to the antibiotics and may be released within the next couple of days depending on when they can perform the surgeries for his dialysis accesses. Everyone expects a full recovery.
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