Never again do I want to experience the week that I’ve experienced,but at the same time,I wouldn’t give up my being there for anything…
Here’s as quick of a recap as I can get…
Sunday –got to MN. Planned out the fun stuff we were going to do for the week. First we had to get past the pesky radiation consult on Monday morning,though.
Monday –Radiation consult. Dad’s breathing was pretty bad during it so they sent him over to the ER to find out what’s going on. Turns out that things are really critical –he has very little breathing room left. Admitted to the hospital –ICU. We are stunned and scared
Tuesday –Tues. morning docs come in and say something about a stent being put in. Can’t do it at this hospital so he’s transferred up to the university hospital by ambulance. He wants to ride in a car and they laugh nervously. The docs are scared. We are very very very excited that Dad is going to breathe comfortably for the first time in months. Get to new hospital,surgical ICU. Dad says that if something goes wrong in surgery,don’t intubate. This isn’t a surprise to us but it sure as hell was hard to hear. Surgeon is ready to do it,but there’s no rooms. We stew for hours. Surgery finally starts at 5:03 –supposed to be a 2 hr surgery. Shortly after 2 hrs later,we call for an update. Dad is okay but surgery is going to take at least another 30 mn. Surgeon comes out 40 mn (or so) later,it has failed –they couldn’t get the stent in. It didn’t even cross our minds that this was an option. We’re devastated. 2 hours later we finally see Dad. He thanks the surgeon for doing his best. We are all very emotional. We head home around 1 am.
Wed –back to the hospital at 6 am. Dad had a bad night sleep,breathing a little easier since they got a secondary stent in but it still sounds very labored. Finally transferred out of the surgical ICU into an immediate care wing mid-afternoon. Lots of joking,lots of talking,lots of time spent together. Radiation is planned to start the following morning –inpatient. Talk of discharge on Monday. Everyone is exhausted. Aunt calls to say she’s coming in the morning. Little sister J comes to spend the rest of the week. Brother J comes to visit for a while. Home early,bed by 11.
Thursday –Mom goes back to the hospital early and J and I wait to go pick up aunt. Dad goes to radiation. Mom &oldest sister K are in the waiting room. They hear a code blue. They know it’s Dad. Within 2 minutes 30 people are running for the room where Dad is. Probably should have been comforting,but instead it’s terrifying. Dad had been laying down for the radiation simulation and the tumor totally closed off his airway. He was conscious the whole time,but couldnt’get enough air to sustain life. As they rushed him by Mom and K,Dad squeezed their hands and hugged Mom. He was in surgery in 10 mn. K calls crying as J and I are on the way to the airport to say what happened. LOOOOOONG drive to the airport to pick up aunt. loooooong wait after that in the surgery waiting room to find out what happened. Surgeon finally comes out and is pleased. They are able to get two stents in his chest –one inside the other (something that had never been done before –Dad caused several firsts this day) and while it could come out at any point and he was on a ventilator,he was okay for right now. We cried in relief. 2 hours later Dad was awake,off the ventilator,and was joking with Mom and his sister. His breathing was better than it had been since July. He went to the highest care ICU. Adam comes –he had no cell phone and had NO idea what had transpired that morning. He was rather confused when I came out to give him a hug,sobbing and saying that Dad was alive.
Dad rests in the ICU for a couple hours and then they sent him back to radiation. While there,the head radiation guy said that in the 30 years he had been there,they had never called a Code Blue. Not only that but they had never done “emergency radiation”because such a thing didn’t exist! Guess what Dad was in doing that afternoon? Emergency radiation (instead of running him through the simulation,they just radiated the hell out of his entire chest). That radiation went so well that they were able to do the simulation and get him ready for the pinpoint radiation the next day (where they just zap the area where the tumor that is affecting his airway is).
Friday –middle of the night (thurs night) they move Dad out of the ICU and back into a critical care unit. oxygen saturations are still not great (high 80s to low 90s) so he’s put on oxygen (nasal) and they go up again. Dad starts running a low-grade fever which docs blame on the radiation. Adam and I go home.
Since then…There is still talk of Dad going home on Monday. Mom’s terrified about that since he won’t be on the monitors there. I’m afraid she’s going to not sleep anymore,but it will also be good to have him home again. The stent could still come out at any time. It could also clog with all the crap that’s in his lungs –he’s doing nebulizers every 4 hours around the clock to help with that. It’s going to be a worrisome time for them both,I’m sure,but a time where they will be able to spend time together. That’s very important.
Today we celebrated Nick’s birthday with Adam’s mom before she flew back home again and with Adam’s sister K who came to join us in the festivities. In the 3 hours they were all here,the cake fell apart (pics in a blog post later),the pasta salad teetering in the fridge fell out when the door opened,3 of the 4 balloons popped in the first 5 minutes they were in the house,there were countless time-outs for some wonderful little kids who needed to test their boundaries and there was a cup of spilled milk. So glad that I was able to be up with Mom and Dad this week but I’m sure glad I’m home to share in the disastrous chaos that is our house. 
I love all of it.