We have created this site to keep everyone updated with our father’s wellness journey. Our goal is to post every day at Noon.
Thank you all for your positive thoughts and prayers † as well as your offerings to help us during this time.
On Thursday, September 5th, 2024 Dad was admitted into Rome Memorial Hospital where they completed many tests including, blood tests, CAT scan, ultrasound. The findings showed he has Sepsis (which can cause organ failure) He was treated with antibiotics to help with the infection as well as many IV drips.
On Friday, September 6th the medical team reviewed an image of dad’s organs. They started zeroing in on the gallbladder that seemed to be the source of the infection as the size of the bile duct is supposed to be 3mm and it was 9mm!
The only way to truly know was to perform a procedure using an endoscopy to view what was going on within dad. This would be very risky due to dad’s current condition.
We discussed as a family the course of action and decided we needed to do this procedure in hopes it would help reduce the infection. For the procedure he would need to be intubated (on a ventilator) during the procedure and post.
On Saturday we informed the doctor that we would like to move forward with the procedure. That afternoon he was wheeled off to OR and we wished him well “be strong like vinegar” our family saying (from Luigi Petricola) and we prayed for his strength and the medical team’s skills and abilities to have a successful procedure.
The doctor was correct, dad had two stones causing the duct to be inflamed and closed.
The next hurdle is the kidneys. The output of urine on Thursday – Saturday was around 10cc per hour but thankfully from Saturday night to Sunday there was improvement to 30cc per hour.
Monday, September 9th
This morning the urine output has improved to 35cc and the color was clearer than it has been.
They halted the sedation at 11am to see how dad would react, and things have been going well.
He is responding to verbal comments by squeezing our hands or moving his toes.
A lung test to see how he could breathe on his own was done. I call it a lung workout for one hour. He did great! Upon reviewing his blood and assessing his ABG (arterial blood gas) the findings were great! This assessment will be done again this evening to confirm the complete removal of the ventilator.
Later today or tomorrow we should have an update on his liver counts.