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Good plan!

Laughter is a great coping mechanism. Bring ‘em on!

Why, Jespear... I had no idea you were a pecker checker!

Caught a break. Someone cancelled their appointment, so am getting in tomorrow instead of May 31. Progress!

You tell'm, Frank!

My dad has been in the hospital for a week for issues with his kidneys. It's been an ongoing issue for a few months. This one is the last attempt. They've been pumping him with fluids and antibiotics hoping that they would fire up again.

Got a call today from my brother today, the kidneys are not working. Options are to do surgery and get him on dialysis machine. He would need dialysis every other day (5 hrs on dialysis, one day to recover, then another 5 hrs the next day). Even then, maybe one year of keeping him alive on a machine.

Gotta do that family meeting this week to discuss options (or lack of options). Discussion with him, the doctors, mom, brother, sister and me (I'm gonna have to do it via video call.) Ultimately it's my Dad's decision on what to do. He has a DNR but he's responsive so the DNR is not applicable. He's going to have to make the final choice. As much as it sucks for me to deal with it, it probably sucks even worse for him to decide weather or not to sign off on his death warrant

I just hope I can be there to give him a strong hug before he passes.

I knew a lady on dialysis for 8?-10 ?yrs...
But it was only twice a week....
Five heart stints, countless other hospitalizations....
She was one of those peeps who definitely used WAY THE **** OVER THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY'S " ONE MILLION LIFETIME"
RULE...IM GUESSING MORE LIKE 2 TO 2.5 MILLION....
SHE DID OK BUT THE LAST YEAR WAS TOUGH...

GOOD LUCK BUCKY...

Bucky that is a tough one. All I can say is there is a difference between living and just being alive.

Dialysis is hard on the patient, but it is doable. One Son has an in-law that has been doing it for years waiting to get well enough to get a transplant and now for a suitable organ.

Thanks for the support.

I was planning on flying back home to take my turn to babysit my dad while my mom got a new hip installed late May/early June. My brother, sister, and cousin have been carrying the load since I'm a time zone away (kinda feel guilty of that).

It's looking like that trip back home is going to be expedited. We all knew that this was on the horizon, maybe a year or two away not a month away. Franking sucks when denial turns into reality.

It's all part of life we have to deal with. I'm sure there are many folks that had to deal with more heart wrenching things than my situation. For me, this one will be especially hard and I gotta stay strong.

With that said, I can still do a....

NINE! teen.

hey Craig, yes, we all deal with bad stuff.
but you're dealing with it now.

I've long felt that one reason people feel compassion for others is partly because hearing of their sadness and losses trigger the memory and emotional reaction to that memory of their own pain.

I guess no one is spared so most of us want to soften the inevitable sorrow in others we care about as we understand the shared human condition.

We care about you, brother.

I think this is why 8Track started this topic, and as Frask said above, no problem.

that's right, Buckminster. That's what this thread is for...
And besides, by the time we get half way through page 2, no one will remember what the Hell you wrote.




I keed, I keed.

Dad was released from the hospital Tues afternoon and is at home, which was very confusing for us (as of this past weekend we were told he was weeks to a month from death). Mom, brother, and cousin were there for the release. Past couple day's reports from Mom: he's getting stronger and can shuffle around the house a bit better which is a good sign.

Dr. initially set up a family meeting in late May (WTF? Again, I thought you guys were talking weeks to up to a month for the inevitable). Family meeting is now set up for next week. Sister talked with the kidney Dr today and she, doctor, says kidney function is stage 3, not stage 4 (again WTF?) and people can live at this level, as long as it's kept stable and monitored. Said many folks can live several years like that but will also need to monitor his heart (he's on a pacemaker).

Seems like there was some crossed signals and misunderstandings between the various doctors, the tests and results from those tests, and then communicating this with the family. Maybe the treatments he was getting over the weekend did help fire up the kidneys a bit more and the doctors were not working with the most recent data. Maybe the prayers helped. Hopefully they are right this time and the doctors are now on the on the same page using the most recent test results and have a better picture of his status.

Hospice will be paying a visit to them at home at least a couple times a week, actual schedule TDB. This makes me breathe a bit easier and my stress level is down a few notches.

Silver lining: This scare was enough to push my stubborn mom to get one of those life alert alarm wrist watch things. I'm not sure what brand she settled on. A friend from her church helped to walk her through the various options that are out there and got her set up with one within a day. Dad is still a bit lethargic and confused so he doesn't have the wrist band on yet. When his clouds clear, we'll strap one on him too.

Glad to hear some good news, Bucky.

The hospital communications are subpar. Friend of mine had a heart attack last year (early 50s). They needed to do a multiple bypass. Three consecutive days the said they couldn’t do surgery because his glucose was too high. What did they feed him for breakfast each of the three days?

Pancakes with maple syrup.

Ideally, there is a Patient Advocate there most of the daylight hours. Between my sister and I, we caught more than a small handful of miscommunication. .

Doctor A enters at noon. We are going to keep you on these meds today and overnight.
Nurse A comes in at 4:00 without the afternoon meds. When asked where the meds are, they say doc was discontinuing the meds.
Night Time Rounds doc comes in at 8:00 wondering why the blood work isn’t improving. Orders a double dose of what Doc A ordered. Doc A is now off and won’t be returning for three days.

…. Argh

Pain sucks, glad you have a decent plan to manage it.

Part of the thread topic is humor, so I'll add some humor...

A blonde is a bit on the heavy side, so her doctor puts her on a diet.
“I want you to eat regularly for two days, then skip a day, and repeat the procedure for two weeks. The next time I see you, you’ll have lost at least five pounds.”
When the blonde returns, she’s lost nearly 20 pounds.
“Wow, that’s amazing!” the doctor says, “Did you follow my instructions?”
The blonde nods…
“I’ll tell you, though, I thought I was going to drop dead that third day."
“From hunger?” the doctor inquired.
“No, from skipping,” replied the blonde.



One day a blonde walks into a doctors office with both of her ears burnt.
The doctor asks her what had happened.
She says, "well... when I was ironing my clothes the phone rang. I mistakenly picked up the iron instead of the phone.
"Well that explains one ear, but what about the other."
"The a$$hole called again"

Cardiac Stress Test today.
Just the name in itself produces some anxiety.
Feel like I should have studied.

I did it. You'll walk on a treadmill and they'll increase the incline until your heart hits a certain bpm.

I walked 3 miles today and ran another 3. You'll be fine!

It’s always fun when they pull a syringe out of a lead box with radioactive symbols and say “it’s harmless!” I got that one and then the next step…. Full CAT scan of the heart.

I have a normally abnormal EKG. My cardiologist had only ever seen it once before. (Y’all know HockeyDad be unique)

My last nuclear stress test did not involve the treadmill. Instead, they gave me an IV injection which appropriately elevated my heart and breathing rates for the test. Much faster, much better.

This last weekend we had a funeral service for my cousin, he was 40.

He had a rough spell in childhood which I didn’t learn until he got clean and discussed some lows I didn’t know about and how he was coping. He had been clean for 4 years and had grown into a responsible man and a good dad. Fell off the wagon and couldn’t see a way out.

Anyways. 2 days later……my hippie dippy 2nd cousin that lives in SF messages a number of family members and states “He was a good guy, he just didn’t have anything to keep him busy”. She hadn’t seen him in close to 10 years.

Blown away every day how out of touch people are with things.

Sorry to hear about your cousin.

Z,
Awful to hear of your cousin. 40 was old when we were 18, way too young now.

Macs,
Went like you projected.

HD,
Saw the logo and asked about it. She went through the explanation of more radiation standing by a working, older microwave, she's been doing this for 25 years and nothing has happened to her. Her eyes were red- all four of them.

Had the Nuclear Scan and then later the Stress Test.

A lot of Hurry Up & Wait. They warned me of that up front.
-Check in.
-Wait 15 minutes.
-Get the IV and the dye sent inward.
-Cheap raspberry Danish.
-Wait 90 minutes.
-13 combined minutes for a CT and Nuke scan.
-More Nuke Juice pumped in, then onto the treadmill.
-Wait 80 minutes.
-Another round of 13 combined minutes for a CT and Nuke scan.

Good news is, no blockages found.
Additional good news is around the heart capacity. They said usually it only takes two increases in speed and angle to get people to the 85% point. They had to do that four times. Took 12+ minutes to get the heart pumping @ 85%.

The bad news is, if I stroke out, my heart will keep me alive for another couple\few decades.

If I do have a stroke, MACS has to send the Frank & Drafter up nort' with a large buckwheat pillow.