To ask for a hand to hold?

[ShiftyFades]

Just back from hospital. dad is in critical care. I had to ring ambulance on Saturday for him. He's got acute pancreatitis and weak from pain and vomiting. It's all gone downhill today due to his kidney problems and lung problems and he quickly went from ward to High Care to Critical care in the space of 3 hours.

God I'm tired but I can't sleep as so much is going on in my head. They are so good in there and I have every confidence in them. I think they've intervened before it's got really bad and I hope tgey can make him well again. He's lovely and only 76

Just read your thread
I hope your dad shows signs of improving soon. Its a horrible horrible time for you but he will be getting the best care. Look after yourself too,

Thank you all for your lovely words and thoughts, it makes me cry to read them because it's lovely to have that support.
Dad is lovely, he's lively, he's always singing (as am I) and will do anything for anyone, he's a very special man.

Olympic, thank you. They have a radiographer who is an absolute hotshot with an ultrasound, they are hoping to get him to do another ultrasound just to be sure that there aren't any gallstones. The trigger for this seemed to be gout medication. He had gout (and I must stress that Dad drinks even less than me, between us we wouldn't finish a 6 pack of beer in a year) on Tuesday, was on medicine that makes him sick for just 24 hours. The sickness continued and worsened and you know the rest. So my money is on that for the cause but I think, if it's not gallstones, we will never know.

Hi Shifty I hope your Dad is doing better today.

I just wanted to say my Niece has just been in hospital with this and had to have an operation,just a few weeks after giving birth to her second DS.

She doesn't drink at all,they told her that her's was caused by her diet,she's had to change the way she eats since the operation.
They told her that she had to much fat and salt in her diet(take aways ect)she's feeling so much better since the operation,myself and DH were terrified for her she's only 23 and is a tiny little thing.

Just wanted to share with you that it's not always alcohol that causes it.

Thank you, he does keep to a low salt diet due to kidney problems but mum rarely cooks now so they often have microwave meals, i have told him they are full of fat, salt and sugar.
Perhaps I need to invite them over for at least 2 evening meals a week.

Such a worry and I'm glad your daughter is well now.

Good news: they've reduced the blood pressure medicine today and he's managing to keep it at a good level

I dont have any advice or words of wisdom for you Shifty, but I am thinking of you and your dad and sending you lots of good wishes

Thank you, it really means a lot, I just want him to get better

Glad it's looking like good news today xx

Thinking of you and your Dad

Just wanted to say I'm still thinking of you, your family and you lovely dad Shifty.

Hope he's continuing to get stronger x

That's brilliant news Shifty.Your right about the ready meals,my Dad ended up getting really bad kidneys and kidney stones and the hospital said it was because of all the ready meals he'd started eating.

Myself and my Auntie(my Dad's sister)started cooking homemade meals for him,we stuck them in containers that he could stick in the freezer.

One of my brothers has moved in with him now and so has my brothers son,so now they take it in turns to cook for him.

I don't know if this would be of any help to your Dad and yourself
www.wiltshirefarmfoods.com/ this is just one company that I know of that can deliver meals to your home and they specialize in all sorts of diets.

It could help take some of the worry of your shoulders and your Dad wouldn't have to worry about trying to cook everything from scratch.

Hope it helps and hope he's soon back home where he belongs

Today hasn't been a good day, he's feeling dreadful again and his breathing isn't good. He's been coughing up a little blood so they've taken his off warfarin and gave him an antidote to it so that he clots and stops bleeding in his lungs.
He had a chest x-Ray, I saw some white marks on it but it's not at the bottom, sort of splattered randomly. I can't remember if I found out what that means
He managed to get a couple of samples of the blood for them so hopefully we will hear what that is in a day or two. He's on antibiotics as his bloods show that he has an infection somewhere.

The hotshot radiographer came yesterday afternoon and his pancreas and gall bladder all look fine now! It may be that he did have a stone but it's passed now.

So he's a total puzzle, they don't know what it is at all, just that he's very ill

Sending you hugs - He knows he's loved which is so important, really hope things go as well as possible, keep positive. x

I'm sorry, shifty. It's so stressful when you're facing uncertainty like this. Hope your lovely Dad gets a good night's sleep and has a better day tomorrow xx

xx

He was doing quite well this morning but he's not great this evening. He's definitely got pneumonia now, they are running tests to find the cause so they can treat it properly.
His blood pressure looked better to me.
I had to cancel their flights to Orlando from his bedside - I contacted the company and explained the situation, they did security checks with Dad and then let me cancel it, so sad, 10 years of saving

That is so sad - what a shame. Good news that he was better this morning. Patients often go downhill a bit in the pm. Tiredness and temp going up. Try to look after yourself as well xx

Thanks Sally, he looked awful yesterday and was so tired. He's text to say he's feeling a bit better today, I'll be going to see him later.
It's hard to carry on sorting the holiday for the rest of us

Good news, the amount of oxygen he's having has been significantly reduced today. He's still very poorly but this has been the most encouraging thing to happen in the week he has been in critical care

Fingers crossed for your dad shifty. Hope you are managing to eat and keep your strength up

Shifty, another lurker saying I hope your dad is ok. I can only imagine how you must be feeling about ghr holiday. Xx

The doctors seem fairly content with him today, that's good news. Pneumonia seems to be responding to antibiotics, but has a fair bit of chest pain from it. Hopefully his days in critical care are finally numbered

For those still following: good news, Dad was moved to a ward yesterday and is being released home today. It'll take months for him to get back to full strength, the pneumonia is responding well and he's definitely on the mend.

Thank you for your hands, thoughts and prayers xxxx

Excellent news! Wish hima swift recovery!

Hope you manage to get insurance payment on all the money youve paid out sorted quickly!

I know it's not America, but there are last minute family holidays to greek isles... Family pals have booked and going to corfu. Perhaps you coulf do this in a few weeks when you are happy to leave your dad.

Ahh, such good news!!!

So pleased for your dad Shifty. I'm sure he'll be much more comfortable recovering at home.