When I went in to see Slim this afternoon he was sitting up in a chair. He had an O2 mask on to help keep his oxygen saturation level in the normal range. I was sitting and talking to him a little about how he was feeling when someone came into the room. At first Slim was not able to recognize who had come in. He has a hard time wearing his glasses while having to wear the O2 mask... As the person got closer he was able to see who had come to visit...... Ryan had just arrived from Bamako, Mali in Africa!!! It was a shock to Slim and as the nurse was working on some off his med lines you could hear Slim say in his soft crackly voice with tearful emotion.... " This is my boy from Africa" Although Slim had told Ryan, prior to the surgery, not to worry about coming home things changed when Slim took a turn for the worse. Ryan made an executive decision and decided to ignore the suggestion of his father and come home! Not the first time any of us have ignored the advice of our father.... Ryan's stay will be short ( leaves Sunday), but we are glad to have him back. And I think Slim actually was quite happy to see him as well.
As mentioned in the previous posting today. They tried the electrical shock in order to reverse the A-fib. This worked temporarily, but a few hours later the A-fib returned. They tried this several times during his first heart attack in April. Each time the A-fib returned. They opted to try the same med they used to correct the A-fib last time. It may take some time to correct with this medication... if at all.
He is craving ice right now to help sooth his throat. They are limiting his fluid intake as they are still using the Lasix to help flush excess fluid in his system. That being said, some of Slim's personality is returning as he is trying to charm the nurses to give him more ice than he is allowed to have. The charm isn't working, but at least he tried.
They were able to remove the main IV line in his R arm this afternoon. He still has the main line in his neck as well as his L arm. He also still fatigues quickly.
From what we hear, they do not anticipate moving him to the step down unit for at least another day. He will have the Speech Therapy consult to assess his swallowing tomorrow. He will also start cardiac rehab. They couldn't start the rehab today as he was still tethered to too many lines etc.
They are still limiting visits and the length of visits. Mom and Dori were only able to visit with him for about 10 minutes this evening. Tomorrow will be a key day to assess his tolerance for standing and walking. His heart is not use to working while in a prolonged standing position. Since he hasn't been up and standing for 3 days other than to transfer to the chair earlier today.
We appreciate all the support and prayers on Slim's behalf.
Jaren
No comments:
Post a Comment