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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Monday, February 15, 2010 Progress, finally After three and a half months on a mechanical ventilator, Clarence is finally breathing on his own. I walked into his room on Saturday and found the vent turned off. The pulmonologist had told me he'd be having another trial of breathing without the vent, so I assumed that's what it was. But when the nurse came in, he said Clarence had been completely off the vent since the previous Thursday. In fact, while I was there, the respiratory tech came in and took the vent away. So Clarence is finally making some real progress toward recovery.This is somewhat ironic in view of the phone calls I had from the hospital earlier last week. One of them was from the pulmonologist, saying they were going to try again to wean Clarence off the vent. He felt that it could be accomplished within a week. But the second call was from the doctor nominally in charge of Clarence's overall care, who told me I needed to be thinking about an end-of-life hospice placement, because, he said, "I feel like we're just torturing him, you know, doing things to him that aren't really making him any better." All I could think of was, "Don't these people talk to each other??!" I told this doctor that his colleague had just told me he thought Clarence could be off the vent in a short time, and he backed off his "hospice" proposal in a hurry. It troubles me, though, that if the case worker hadn't made a point of calling me and having me speak with the pulmonologist, I might well have believed the second doctor. Clarence hasn't seemed much different the last few weeks than he had for a long time before that. It wasn't obvious to me that he was making any progress at all.He still has a long way to go before coming home. The initial problem that put him in the hospital--severe muscle weakness as a complication of Lipitor--hasn't gone away. But most of his loss of muscle tone now is due to being confined to a hospital bed for almost five months. The physical therapy people seem confident that he can regain at least some mobility. He will probably always be on dialysis as well. One of the other complications associated with Lipitor is renal failure, and his kidneys weren't in real good shape to begin with. But there is a local dialysis center, so we can manage that. He also still has a tracheostomy and a feeding tube in place, but neither of those is necessarily permanent.It will be ideal if he can regain enough strength to at least stand on his own, so he can move from bed to wheelchair to car. If he can't accomplish that, I'll have to find out what it will take to get a van with a wheelchair lift. And I'll need something like a Hoyer lift at home to get him into and out of the bed. But those are all details (though some of them are costly details, sigh). He has at least made it to the first step, breathing without mechanical assistance. posted by Liz @ 4:25 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
After three and a half months on a mechanical ventilator, Clarence is finally breathing on his own. I walked into his room on Saturday and found the vent turned off. The pulmonologist had told me he'd be having another trial of breathing without the vent, so I assumed that's what it was. But when the nurse came in, he said Clarence had been completely off the vent since the previous Thursday. In fact, while I was there, the respiratory tech came in and took the vent away. So Clarence is finally making some real progress toward recovery.This is somewhat ironic in view of the phone calls I had from the hospital earlier last week. One of them was from the pulmonologist, saying they were going to try again to wean Clarence off the vent. He felt that it could be accomplished within a week. But the second call was from the doctor nominally in charge of Clarence's overall care, who told me I needed to be thinking about an end-of-life hospice placement, because, he said, "I feel like we're just torturing him, you know, doing things to him that aren't really making him any better." All I could think of was, "Don't these people talk to each other??!" I told this doctor that his colleague had just told me he thought Clarence could be off the vent in a short time, and he backed off his "hospice" proposal in a hurry. It troubles me, though, that if the case worker hadn't made a point of calling me and having me speak with the pulmonologist, I might well have believed the second doctor. Clarence hasn't seemed much different the last few weeks than he had for a long time before that. It wasn't obvious to me that he was making any progress at all.He still has a long way to go before coming home. The initial problem that put him in the hospital--severe muscle weakness as a complication of Lipitor--hasn't gone away. But most of his loss of muscle tone now is due to being confined to a hospital bed for almost five months. The physical therapy people seem confident that he can regain at least some mobility. He will probably always be on dialysis as well. One of the other complications associated with Lipitor is renal failure, and his kidneys weren't in real good shape to begin with. But there is a local dialysis center, so we can manage that. He also still has a tracheostomy and a feeding tube in place, but neither of those is necessarily permanent.It will be ideal if he can regain enough strength to at least stand on his own, so he can move from bed to wheelchair to car. If he can't accomplish that, I'll have to find out what it will take to get a van with a wheelchair lift. And I'll need something like a Hoyer lift at home to get him into and out of the bed. But those are all details (though some of them are costly details, sigh). He has at least made it to the first step, breathing without mechanical assistance.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
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PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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