My Dad... and a WARNING! NOT that O/T...

Have an uncle that came through a real bad lung infection similar to your pops
lung issue. Well hes just fine and loud and rediculous as he wants to be.
Your pop will be fine. Lots of prayers have gone up for him. Seems like hes going to have a lot to say popping all the wires off his jaw.

Be encouraged and try not to make him smile to much and brake more wires.
God bless you and your family.

 

Great to hear things are headed in the right direction for your Dad.

WOW, isn't it great that the HAMB "family" can share their thoughts and prayers for those who need it most? I think this is just awesome.

Anyway, remember to take care of yourself and your kids too. It is hard on everyone and important to take some time for yourself.

Sounds like your Dad will pull through this and your family will be stronger and closer then ever.

I know there will be a spot at Autorama Extreme for you and your Dad in 2007!

 

Really glad to hear things are going well!!!


Take care of yourself too. He'll probably be needing some help when he gets home from the hospital.

Give your dad my best.

Bill

 

Steve,
I just got back in the country last night from a week in Mexico City (no HAMB) so I was glad to see the good news. I hope he continues to improve. I've been pulling for him.
Rich

 

HRTH, thanks for the updates. Nice to hear the good news.

 

Glad to hear he's doing better...

 

I haven't been around in a while, but wanted to send my prayers to you and your family. It's great that he's doing so much better.

James

 

Ok guys... A little bad news, and a whole bunch of GREAT news!


The bad news:
Dad has antibiotic resistant bacterial pneumonia!
We have to be gloved and gowned to go see him...



The GREAT news:

He's awake.

He's off of the ventilator completely (they just have a cap over his trach).

His chest tube is out, his feeding tube is out, the catheter is out, etc...

The only gear he's still hooked up to are an IV, and his monitors!

He's talking (I haven't talked to him since they capped his trach, but before that it was very difficult for him to talk, so he was using a lot of hand gestures and writing stuff down).

He was sitting up in a chair when I got there yesterday.

He actually called my Mom on the phone right wafter we left the hospital to tell her that they capped his trach and removed his feeding tube!

He'll probably be in a regular room and starting rehab within the next couple of days, and possibly be HOME in a week to ten days!



I told him that the whole HAMB board is looking out for him, and he gave me a big "thumbs up"!

He thinks it's awesome that he's received so many cards from people he's never met, or even talked to .... it really means a lot to him (and me)!

As soon as I get a new cartridge for the printer I'm gonna print this thread out and take it up to him...



Thanks again for everything guys!!!!
Steve

 

Great news Steve, thanks for the update

 

Been following your story from the begining. Really glad to hear is doing better.

 

It is GREAT that your Dad is doing better.

Prayers do work.....

The Doctors gave up on my Father 4 or 5 times in the last 20 years of his life. He proven them wrong every time......
He finally was beat by Cancer at 83....but HE signed a paper refusing treatment..... HE decided it was time to quit ....

Praying for your Dad's recovery....

 

Steve, Great to hear about your Dad. I'm sure you know that there will be a lot of follow-up after he gets on his feet but it sounds like he will lower his head and charge into it. Be there for him during those times because I'm speaking from experience, it can be tougher than the initial trauma.
Take care and let me know if there is anything I can do.

Frank

 

Good news!!

 

I have been following your story, wow what a miracle!!!!! Been a long few weeks for you and your family. But the great news, Looks like your on your way to many more years with your DAD!!!

 

Yet another update on Dad!


His white blood cell count is still high, but the resperatory specialist said that the pneumonia is definitely on it's way out, as his lungs sound great!!

He's out of the ICU.

He's off of his breathing treatment completely.

He's been walking all the way down to the PT room (albeit slowly), doing his PT, and then walking all the way back to his room!

They're going to re-wire his jaw today.

They're likely going to completely remove his trach today.


He does seem a little "out of it" though...
I'm not sure if it's still trying to come down off of 2 weeks worth of heavy sedation, the pain meds, or if he did actually get a little messed up from being knocked out for so long.

He repeats himself A LOT, his short term memory is a little sketchy, and his fine motor skills definitely suffered. I suppose that two weeks of not moving could do that to you, but still... it bothers me to see him like that...



But, the best news???


He'll probably be HOME by Friday!!

 

Your Dad sounds a lot like mine... and coming home will probably be the best thing for him!

Thanks for keeping us updated!

Mike

 

Man that is awesome news! I kinda just went though the same thing so I'm feeling for you. My dad had a pretty serious surgery to remove cancerous lymph nodes from his legs and I guess it was very painful so they had him on some pretty good pain medication. He did the exact same thing, would repeat himself a bunch, poor short term memory, sometimes he would just fall asleep mid sentence. It took a few days after being home to start snapping out of his fog, so hopefully it will be the same for your dad.

 

That is awesome, I have been keeping track of his progress since you mentioned the accident at Autorama. It is great to hear how well he is doing. Don't worry about him seeming out of it, my dad is like that now without any serious accidents!

 

Thats great news Steve. In spite of all the things that worry you about him just remember that you are so fortunate to still have him around. You may have to take him as he is for a while but thats a small price to pay when you consider the alternative.

 

Steve, Thats great he is about to come home. It will probably be the best medicine yet. I know leaving the hospital was like a shot of adreniline for me. When you get him home you'll have a new set of things to take up the time but I'm sure you and your family will be able to cope just fine. Keep us updated, especially if we can help.

Frank

 

Excellent news about Dad coming home Steve!!!! Pass on my best wishes!!

 

What GREAT news. Glad to hear your dad is doin' great.

 

hrth,

glad to hear about your dad doing better and getting to come home soon. especially the home part. even when you've been somewhere that you wanted to go to it's good to get home. more so from the hospital.

i hope the memory thing resolves itself quickly. my daughter had a pretty terrible (life threatening; she hit her head HARD on something) automobile accident about 10 years ago. she probably never will remember the wreck or the first couple of weeks after it. and she had to drop out of college for a semester 'cause as soon as she finished studying she couldn't remember what she had studied. as you said about your dad, it was the short-term memory that was out of whack. BUT, as time wore on that all went away. so i'm guessing (and praying) that your father's memory will return completely to normal over time. the sooner the better, or course.

 

My thoughts are with you

 

Ok guys... I haven't posted any updates here in a while, as I've had A LOT of stuff going on...



Anyway...

Dad came home on Friday!!!

He's doing great...

Just like some of you said, just being home made a huge improvement for him!

He's in really good spirits, he says he's not in pain, he's pretty stable on his feet, his manual dexterity is coming back, he seems to be getting over the "fogginess" that he was having, his apetite's coming back, etc...



He is still having trouble sleeping, and he said that his eyes are really sensitive to the light....

He has a bunch of Dr appointments this coming week, to hopefully get some of those issues fugured out, as well as to make sure he's doing alright all around...


Any of you that know him and want to come harass him a little bit, give me a call, and I'll let you know what his schedule looks like so you can catch him at home...




Thanks again for everything guys... it really means a lot to all of us...

Steve



By the way... he said after he's had a few weeks to get healed up he wants me to show him how to use the computer/internet, so he might be a HAMBer before too long!

 

That's great news, Steve! I knew he'd be home soon and on his way to recovery!

Hope to see him in person and on here sometime soon as well!

 

Glad to hear he's better, HRTH. I've been following the thread as you posted. When I saw you at Autorama you looked a bit out of it. I was hanging out with Pete at the gathering, didn't get intro'ed, but knew who you were from the metal

Flatman

 

Great news! Thanks for the update.

 

This brought on my first legitimate smile in 72 hours. Great news.

I still want pics of when he goes down to work and kicks some butts.

 

tell pops we said hi and its great he is home and ok and keep it up