By Tuesday night he was so sick that Mom decided to take him to Instacare. He was then sent to the hospital where blood work was done and he was given some IV’s for dehydration. He was then sent home. The next day he was even sicker. Once again that evening mom took him to instacare and they moved him along to the hospital for more IV’s. On the way to the hospital for IV’s the blood lab called and said that Dad needed to get to the hospital immediately because he tested positive for Staph. He was admitted and started getting hooked up. On Thursday he was doing seemingly well until sometime that afternoon something changed. Dad was suddenly slurring his speech and seemed to be getting much sicker. That night I went and visited dad and apparently he had a stroke. Dad could not speak a word however he seemed to know exactly what he wanted to say. It was very difficult to watch and even more frustrating for him. CAT scans were ordered and the stroke was confirmed.
The following morning a TEE was ordered and a thorough look at his heart was examined. Evidently the Staph infection had gone straight to his heart and had begun to eat away at the tissues and more particularly the valves of the heart. His heart was working so inefficiently that immediate open-heart surgery was needed. The doctors solemnly told us that it needed to be done quickly (as the cause of his stroke was from pieces breaking off and going to his brain and causing the stroke) however because he was in a septic state from the staph he would most likely not survive. Each of his kids were called and all six of his kids starting driving and flying to Utah to be with dad. We were all devastated. You can imagine the desperation of our prayers on this day. It was tough. We plead for a miracle. His surgeon was Dr. Connors originally but through a sweet miracle IHC’s finest heart surgeon Dr. Goff was suddenly assigned to dad’s case. He approached us as a family as we cried outside dad’s door. He was the turning point for us. He came and explained the situation in its entirety to us. He confirmed that if surgery was done today that he was too sick to survive it. He told us that he wanted to push surgery back a week to see if dad could get any more strength. We thought this was a good idea as it seemed like the only option to keep him alive. The risk of this was more vegetation from his heart coming off and going to his brain and causing more brain damage. So again we began to fast and pray for more blessings. On Friday night all the siblings arrived and dad was given a blessing. He was blessed that he would have a full recovery but that he would have to be patient, as it would take a very long time. This gave us much hope.
Each day we waited on edge for platelet counts, kidney function, brain function and anything else to improve. Any improvement was minimal but we welcomed what we could get. By Monday his speech was much better however the Neurologist was very concerned with more potential brain damage from strokes. He and Dr. Goff worked together and determined that surgery needed to be bumped up to Wednesday instead of Friday. In fear of something happening in the middle of the night the siblings took turns sleeping in dads hospital room. The night before surgery they kept waking dad up for different procedures for surgery. His body washed and ‘decontaminated’ 3 times before going into surgery at 6 in the morning. Once they pushed us out of the surgery prep area at about 8 the wait began. We filled up the long day with going to breakfast as a family, a few of us went to Weber States gym facility for 2 hours, others worked, played blokus, read books, and crotched. We did all we could to stay busy for the next 8 hours. Every 2 hours we received reports on how things were going. At about 4:30 that afternoon we received the news that he made it through and we were filled with relief. We each got to go see him (though heavily sedated and intubated). Truthfully, he looked terrible. His skin was waxy looking, he had gained 20 pounds from fluids, and every machine possible was hooked up to him. I thought, this is what you'll look like when your dead. But he was alive, barely as it may be and I just thought, 'well we will go ahead from here'. Our hearts were so filled with gratitude that he pulled through that the only thing we could do was be grateful.
The days after the surgery were filled with heartache and disappointment that I’m not sure any off us had been prepped for. The typical open-heart surgery patient is out of the ICU in about 3 days. However, dad was still so septic and so sick that any complication possible seemed to happen. We’ve watched him writhing in pain with his arms restrained to the bed. 3 days after surgery he went into a complete panic as he couldn’t breath. This was due to either fluid filling up his thoracic cavity or a collapsed lung (it’s up in the air). This complication forced the Doctors to re-intubate him and place him in a medically induced comma. The progress for the next week was turtle slow. As one level would get better, something would get worse. As one complication was avoided another complication was being tested. Everyday we hoped and prayed for progress. With each complication a new fear was brought to the forefront of our mind. Each time a fear comes I thought of that blessing of recovery and do all I can to push it out of my mind.
Occasionally they would try to bring dad out of the sedation however, it was not dad. He was so clouded with drugs that he would be very confused. He would grimace and grunt in pain as he squirmed in relief. He couldn’t be comforted with words from his loved ones and the only peace he could find was when he was in a deep sedation. It was devastating to watch. One night the nurses turned down the sedation and left the room and dad ripped his breathing tube out of his throat causing damage in his throat. This tube was forcing him to breathe so pulling it out was a very bad thing. Again a loving Father in Heaven was watching over him and a doctor was standing just outside his door and came in and did an emergency re-intubation. This was very disheartening as once again, it was one more thing that he’d have to recover from.
Friday the 24th: The past two days have provided a bit of a reprieve from worry. Dad is finally making small improvements, for which we are very thankful.
Dad's kidney function improved a bit more. He is almost in the normal range with his kidneys. When he wakes, his eyes engage with you for a small moment. Even though it is brief, it is a step in the right direction.
Physical therapy helped dad sit on the side of his bed and also had him stand (with three people holding him.) You might be envisioning a tired and weak Rick, sitting on the side of his bed; smiling, looking at you, holding onto people for a little support. That is not what this looks like. It is three people lifting him to a sitting position and then into a standing position; trying to get him to open his eyes; speaking to him in very loud voices (you might call it yelling) trying to get a response out of him. There is not much coddling in the ICU. But, we are thankful for that. They really push dad to respond.
They hope to be able to take out dad's intubation tube in the next couple of days. He still tries to yank out the intubation tube whenever he gets a chance.
These may look like small things, but those baby steps are miracles for us.
On Saturday the 25th the day started out with the good news that we couldn't go see dad because they were pulling his breathing tube (yeah!). This tube has been bothering dad so we were happy to see it go. When we got back he was laying in his bed with his eyes closed. They were also trying to wean him off sedation completely so we were happy about that. The goal was to keep him relaxed because if his blood pressure and breathing went up they would have to re-intubate him. As the hour after taking out the tube went on he became more agitated. By the second hour he was even worse. Doctors were bustling around us as machines beeped and we held his hand and tried to get him to relax. It was difficult to see him struggling.
They were listening to his throat and could hear wheezing, which meant that his throat was swelling shut from taking out the tube. Dad was completely panicked, as he couldn't breathe. Mom and I were asked to leave and the team re-intubated him and sedated him again. It was a pretty big let down for us as taking out that breathing tube was a big step in the right direction. Now we are set back a few more days. Like I said, it was the pits.
Some good friends of ours (LeAnn and Angie) were walking in as we were leaving dads room for re-intubation. They had 2 FIIZ drinks ready for us. I personally am not a big soda drinker but after the last two hours it seemed like a good day to start drinking.
The tentative plan: (I say tentative because it seems like things never seem to go the way we hope, darn it Dad!) Dad will be sedated for the next 2 days. On Monday they will potentially give dad a tracheotomy. This is a hole in the neck that allows him to bypass the throat and breath through his neck. This will allow his throat to heal and open back up again as well as allow him to move out of the ICU. The intubation tube is the thing that is keeping him from leaving the ICU. We are hopeful that the tracheotomy will be temporary.
Besides todays set backs everything else for dad continues to be going in the right direction. His kidneys and liver are functioning, the staph is not regenerating anymore, and there are no new signs of a stroke. We are anxious to get him out of sedation and have him more lucid.
Thank you all for all the continued prayers and fasting in his behalf. We believe that prayers and fasting work and continue to be hopeful for a full recovery...even if it takes a bit longer then we'd anticipated.
The day of surgery was a long one. It started at 5 A.M. and he was out of surgery by 6 P.M. So long and so hard.
I'm not sure there is anything much worse then seeing a loved one like this. My hope is to never have to be in the ICU again. It's a tough place to be.
Mom could not have been a better example of Christlike love and devotion for dad. She rarely left his side and continues to serve him tirelessly.
Some of the first days that dad was awake. It was glorious to have him come back to us. When I was able to first hear his voice it was over the phone. At that point I had not heard his voice in over a month and a half. It was a glimpse into what the resurrection will be like for loved ones who have gone before us. To hear, speak with and see them again. I can't explain the feeling of joy it gave me to hear his sweet voice after such a long hard month.
People showered us with food, gift baskets and prayers. The world is a good place to be. Don't let people tell you otherwise. It is still full of beautiful, giving, and caring people.
Over the break we got to babysit Sadie. We decided to go Ice skating at Station Park and honestly it was a bit of a disaster. Mitch and I were out numbered by little ones and the tears were flowing from most of them.
Look how peaceably the indian and the pilgrim look. A rare moment in time...
Even though everyone was out of town the making of pies tradition was still in full swing. Grandma Murray accompanied us and of course to her everything was just 'delicious'!
