"Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.
This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones."
Proverbs 3:5-8
Good evening.
First off, I cannot even begin to express the gratitude my family feels to all of the family and friends who have already shown an outpouring of love and support for my wonderful father. It's really because of you that I felt the need to start this blog. After many dropped calls, unanswered texts, duplicate texts, uninformative texts, unreturned phone calls etc., I felt like it was time to be a little be better on our end in terms of communication. Thus, I hope and anticipate this will track Dad's successful and full recovery and will give you informed and relevant updates as we get them. Thus, I will bring you all up to speed.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
2:20pm
I was at home preparing tailgate food with Cullen when I had a really strong feeling to call my mother. When I got her, she informed me that they had a wreck. She was very disoriented and I gathered up Logan and Cullen and we started heading downtown. I was able to speak then with a paramedic who gave me more detailed information about where they would be taken. Then, leave it to my mother, I get several phone calls from the ambulance. The paramedic was NOT thrilled. How she managed to call me after a paramedic told her not to while strapped down to a backboard, I will never understand, but such is the wonders of my mother.
3:15pm
We arrive at the emergency room. Due to the fact I spoke with her RIGHT AFTER the wreck happened, we arrived at the same time the ambulance did. I was able to speak with Mom as she was being wheeled in. Dad was already in. They were in two separate rooms. My mom sustained a laceration on the side of her head and had a considerable knot. She was very disoriented and in a good deal of head pain. My Dad's situation was a little worse. He seemed to be quite disoriented and was not improving. Frequent back and forth visits between the two rooms.
5:00pm
First CT on my parents is done. Mom was clear. They found internal bleeding on my dad's brain. This was located (now bear with me, I'm a lawyer, not a doctor) on the left upper temporal lobe. This was unexpected, and of course changed the game. He was monitored, and in several hours, another CT was ordered.
8:00pm
Second CT on my dad is done. They discovered, unfortunately, that the bleeding had grown and this called for a quick booking in the Neuroscience ICU at Hermann Memorial. They explained the circumstances, and expressed that we really needed this to stop growing.
9:00pm
Dad is settled in his new room in the Neuro-ICU. He is completely un-lucid and is unable to form sentences. He is totally unable to recognize anyone or really focus on anything in particular. His motor functions (lifting an arm or a leg) are intact.
12:00pm
Third CT is performed. Docs told us that if it had expanded to a degree, they would need to head to the OR for brain surgery. Mercifully, this shows that the bleeding had "stabilized" in that it had not expanded past the 8:00 test. With any form of good news being welcome news, we were very motivated.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
1:00am
We are told that the area where this bleeding is located is an area that controls (again...not a doctor) word processing: speaking and understanding speech. This makes perfect sense because any words coming out of his mouth are totally incoherent. We are told that we want to try and make sure that the bleeding stops and that the swelling is kept down. This is partially for his current status, but also for his long term use of the functions listed above.
Late night - early morning
Dad has a pretty eventful evening. Not good. Lots of pain and vomiting. Very high stress on his body and his head.
Mid-morning
He has spoken several short answers to questions. Some of them are correct, some are not. He was able to identify my mother as "Rebecca", was able to state that "Obama" was president and said that the year was "2012." These are asked throughout the morning, along with others. Sometimes he got them, most of the time not. He was able to understand when nurses were commanding him to do something with his body, he just couldn't quite make out what to do. For instance, if they told him to give a "thumbs up" he would cross his index and middle fingers. Again, he knew he was being given a command, but with the issues in the language processing area, this was challenging.
Noon
We begin to have some visitors. This sparked a great deal of recollection and he was able to call a handful of family and friends by their name and speak relevantly (in small, limited phrases) in ways that were true and pertained to the person with whom he was speaking. This was very encouraging. He called me Olivia, and asked where Rebecca and Logan were (they had stepped out). He did, however, grab my face and pull it very close to his and express his utmost distaste for the C-collar around his neck.
3:00pm
He is fervently begging for the C-collar to be removed. To anyone who'd listen, he'd tell them that "this thing has got to come off" and that "I hate this...you don't understand" etc. He even tried to bargain with a nurse. When she told him that she couldn't take it off he responded with "10-15 minutes?"...when she said no again he said "10 minutes?"
3:30
He grows increasingly agitated, but increasingly drowsy. If he's not sleeping, he's imploring someone to remove the brace. The nurses are a little concerned about his disposition, as he becomes more unable to answer questions and give meaningful feedback.
4:00
The brace comes off. AHHHH. Tommy is VERY happy. He then decides to go to sleep. The nurses become more worried about his level of drowsiness. I maintained (vocally) that he was just very annoyed with them and didn't want to talk anymore.
5:00
The 4th CT is ordered. After several failed attempts and some distressing movement on a strapped down board, they decide to take him downstairs for the CT.
5:30
The 4th Ct is finally administered. They indicated that the bleeding hasn't necessarily increased, but the swelling has ever so slightly. The new nurse is somewhat concerned by the swelling, especially in relation to the lack of lucidity that he has had in the evening. They decide to monitor (which...we are already doing given we are in the Neuroscience ICU).
6:30
TOMMY IS NOT A HAPPY CAMPER. He is ready to go home. He tells my mother repeatedly that it's time to get out of here. And I mean that literally as he tried to get up from bed and leave. Unfortunately they had to belt him to the bed which did not improve his mood at all. He becomes extremely agitated with the nursing staff and Mom. He tells her that she is NOT trying to help him at all and to just leave him alone. His attitude is very ornery. (Again, I prefer ornery to non-responsive for now).
8:30
Nursing shows mercy and agrees to remove the strap. No worries, Dad climbed out of it before they could properly undo it. He's pretty happy about that. But he is NOT happy about the pain in his head. They have decided not to administer drugs like Vicodin because they don't want to distort his mental response. Drugs like that only make you woozier, and they want an accurate representation as to how you're really doing. His attitude is overall pretty poor (not judging, 10 needles, monitors, uncomfortable bed and constant probing and question asking...yeah...I'm not loving that either). He is able (and let me reinforce...with GUSTO) express that he does not like this hospital, that "this is absurd" and that he's ready to leave.
9:30
Dad decides "whatever...I'm taking a nap". YAY! It will likely be off an on throughout the night. But I will post an update in the morning.
It's been an off an on day and a half. We see encouraging things, and then are disappointed by others. But I know he will heal from this. My Dad is a fighter. (He fought his way out of a hospital restraint system on day 1. Excellent.) But more importantly, he is going to get through this for a reason I am about to tell you:
My dad has lost 18 pounds and works out at the gym many days a week. His overall health has improved and he has looked wonderful. He told us on Friday night that the reason he kept his body so healthy is because he knew that "this is where the Lord lives. The Lord's house on earth is in my body...and well, I need to take care of it." I believe that with my whole heart. Not even 24 hours later his body was tested. But I know of the health and strength that he has residing within him, and I know it will not fail.
Love to you all. Thank you for your support. Let's give Thomas Lee Chilton a little Tender Love and Care!
ORC
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