Had to call the squad for dad this morning

I am so exhausted I don’t even know where to begin..will do my best for this post to make sense….bear with me right now..

Around 6:45 this morning my son woke me up stating something is wrong with grandpa and he said to come get you.  When I came down the hall he didn’t have any color.  I asked what was wrong.  AT dinner last night he had some meat that felt “stuck”.  This seems to be an issue with food in general for my dad for the past 12 months and he refuses to see a doctor about it.  He had been throwing up in a bucket, trembling, I took his temperature and it was 101 so I said dad I have to call 911 for the squad to come and get you, he said no but I did it anyhow.  Then I called for my hubby to come home from work.

E.R.  During the E.R. time, they drew blood for blood work, did blood gases, chest x-rays (portable), and the nurse had questioned him prior to us arriving as I had to get dressed and wait for hubby to get home from work, about the droopy-ness in his face, he said was from a previous stroke.  Well hubby and I noticed some a little droopy-ness on the right side which is new and I said something to the nurse at the nurse’s station.  They then did a CT-Scan (which will only show a stroke if he had one 3 days ago back) which didn’t show anything.  They felt he had a TIA (a mini stroke) which is hard to detect.  They took more blood gases and he kept complaining feeling like something was stuck in his throat.  There was some obstruction showing in one of his lungs so they gave him a breathing treatment and some antibiotics via his I.V. (he has two I.V.) to treat for pneumonia.  They schedule for him to have an Upper GI scope to check his Esophagus for an obstruction.  Finally at noon the found a room for him (they admitted him)

At 1:00 they did the scope procedure.  The doctor told my hubby and I that there was a small piece of meat, but it got caught on a “growth” that they removed and are doing a biopsy on, (he also mention a polyp so not sure if found both or the same thing), and that my dad’s esophagus is lined with fungus and they also looked into his stomach and he had a severe gastritis, which they are also testing to see if it is bacterial.

He came back up to his room from recovery but still seems like something is off.  Something doesn’t seem right.  The regular doctor came in at 4:30  to talk to him and said his white blood count is really high, and that the issue with is esophagus wouldn’t be causing that, so there is something else wrong.  They are treating him as if he had pneumonia but the x-rays didn’t really “show” that.    She took some more of his history, ask him to squeeze her hands and again she noted his slurring speech and droopy-ness on right side, and he was barely squeezing her right hand.  His left side is normally his week side and right now that is his strongest side “upper body” wise.  So I had to call my mom since they are divorced to ask if when he had his aneurysm back when he was 49 and strokes and brain surgery if they put metal clips in his head, because they now want to do an MRI.  She said no they didn’t.  So tonight they are doing an MRI and tomorrow he is going to have to have a Swallow Study Test done to see what happens when he swallows and where everything is going to make sure nothing is heading into his lungs, because of the high white blood count.  She is also having a neurologist come in to see him too.   (He  NPO until the Swallow Study is done and that means nothing by mouth)

Fungus of the Esophagus–his Rheumatoid Arthritis medication is the problem with this since it suppresses his immune system.   So now touch decisions may have to be made, we are not sure yet.  The Rheumatoid Arthritis is in advanced stages without it, he is in severe pain and becomes immobile and that’s not something he wants.  I am afraid to say I don’t have a say in the matter, it is a choice my dad has to make and one that isn’t fair at all, to live in pain or no pain and have medical health issues.  Just not fair!!

Also they are running a blood test to check his liver enzymes.  They were showing off when he had blood work done at doctor office and never followed up on it,  so they want to make sure this isn’t an issue with the white blood cells too.

As you can imagine I am just exhausted!!  I will post and update tomorrow evening when I can!