Sunday 5 May 2013

The One Am Drive.

This morning I awoke at 1am to find Carl in some distress. He was very short of breath and was coughing dreadfully. I turned up the concentrator and by the time I got back in the room he was shivering with cold and sweating. I got dressed and called the ambulance.

Off he went to the hospital with me flying behind in my little blue bug. By the time I got there he was being admitted and I was made to wait in the germ filled waiting room for almost an hour! Toronto General Hospital includes the "caregiver" in every aspect of care. Being excluded in London was upsetting. Finally I found a nurse who let me into the Pod area.
Carl had a temperature of over 103F, which in adults is dangerous. They instantly put him on fluids and antibiotics. His breathing was so bad he could only speak 3 word sentences.
Last week we thought perhaps he might have a slight infection so he was put on some drugs to stave off this very thing happening. Whatever this "bug" is it was determined to get through.
We had a parade of Doctors and Respiroigist interns in to see him. They were so impressed they decided to keep him there ♥

He has pneumonia for sure, what kind we don't know yet. They are upping his prednisone to 60 mg from 15mg a day as well as aggressive antibiotics.
They kicked me out at 10:30 this morning and told me to go home and sleep. I tried to nap for about 3 hours but wasn't too successful.
Around supper time I was back and found him resting, still very short of breath even on 15L and the NR mask. At least the fever has broken and with the oximizer he was able to eat something. He had to go back on the mask afterwards as the O2 stats started to drop again.
He is in a private semi isolation unit with his own executive bathroom ( la tea dah). He has his tablet so he can listed to his tunes. Hopefully we will both put in a quiet night. Note to self: cancel all this weeks appointments.

3 comments:

  1. Hang in there Susan - good for you for a) keeping your wits about you and b) advocating for yourself to get thru to the inside...when the patient isn't able, who better to speak for the patient and about the patient than the 24/7 support person - we know what is normal with our person and what is out of the ordinary. Our best wishes for a quick recovery from this set back for Carl!
    Pamela & Carman

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  2. What a scary night you both had! I'm glad he is getting the care he needs and is feeling better. The hospital in Red Deer doesn't allow spouses into the emergency room until after the doctor assesses them. I don't know how I'm going to handle that if Bob has to go to the hospital. They may have to arrest me! Take care of yourself which I know is almost imposible when going through a crisis but do what you can.
    Hugs, Marilyn

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  3. I hope Carl recovers quickly. Know that we are thinking of both of you and will pray for you. Please keep us posted. Gale

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