Ok, here's the lowdown. Last saturday Gk was up at 2:30 a.m with really bad hip pain. We were supposed to go visit Betty at the Coast, but obviously that was put on hold. We delt with the pain and high blood pressure resulting from pain and seemed to make it through the day without any major issues.
Sunday morning I was at the house by about 6:45 a.m. He was standing at the sliding glass door with clothes on inside out and one shoe on. He said he had been calling for me as I was out feeding the animals, but that I must not of heard him. I had not been outside other than to walk across the driveway. I asked him if he had slept o.k and he told me he had not slept at all, he wasn't tired. Hmm....sleep deprivation? That's what I went with.
We stayed pretty quiet that day, watched movies, read the paper, and later in the day when he insisted we go to town, I drove him. He needed shoe laces and soda pop. I was starting to worry. During dinner we noticed he was starting to see things that weren't there and speaking to people we couldn't see. I thought, he just needs to get some sleep.
He wouldn't sleep.
He was like a sleepless Superman. His energy just kept increasing instead of decreasing, but by 11:00 p.m we were convincied he was down for the night. Mike had taken the last shift and had left him comfortable in bed with all the lights out and doors locked. At 2:00 a.m I went to check on things and as I crossed the driveway I could see EVERY light in the house was on and GK cruising around.
He was in a great mood, very happy, just looking for Grammy. I called Kelly in Montana and told her I thought it was time to take him to the E.R. She agreed and we were on our way.
If you didn't know my Grampy you would not have known there was a problem. He was so charming and sensical with the ladies in addmitting, they were looking at me like maybe I should be seeing a doctor. It wasn't until he was in a room talking with the E.R nurse about the cows in the hallway that they started to take notice.
They took blood tests, an EKG and cat scan and found he was having some kidney troubles, which was causing dehydration which may be causing the "mildly odd" behavior. They would settle him in a room for further testing.
Off to room 2022, the Ken Fahrenholz suite.
I wait until he is comfortable before I head home for some much needed rest.
At 1:00 we head back to town in hopes of meeting his doctor for rounds.
At 1:25 he "crashed".
We got there just as things were really getting bad, and he was able to tell me to let him go. He wanted to be comfortable, but it was time, this was it. I cried as he told me good bye, and cried harder as I told him good-bye, but knew in my heart this was what he wanted.
That wasn't what happened. The doctor ordered meds to pull him out of the heart failure and he laid unresponsive for the next two and a half days.
By Thursday he was speaking again, maybe mumbeling. You could understand just enough to know he was halucinating and delerious. So they just gave him more meds. His doctor never tried to find the cause for what was happening to him, he was just keeping him sedated.
By Thursday, We had decided to bring him home and keep him comfortable with Hospice. The doctor didn't even have him hooked up to I.V fluids so he may as well be at home. He was dressed and ready to go when his Oncologist, Dr.Y came in and asked why he was being released to Hospice. I told him if there was nothing blah blah blah... he wasn't going to stay there. He asked me to let him stay long enough to see the heart doctor. Of course I agreed, stating that if they would treat his condition instead of medicate him into a coma, he could stay as long as it took. That was it. That was what we needed. A doctor to take action. Things started happening. The heart doctor was in, the neurologist was in, things were moving forward. That is until his regular doctor would come in. The deal is, Barth is his primary doctor. So if new orders are needed they have to come from him. If there is an issue with care, it needs to be addressed by him. The problem is....he is nearly impossible to reach, even by the hospital staff and once you do get him, he is a retard.
Kelly got here Thursay afternoon and began calling Dr.Barth Dr.Dorkian. We have always called him Dr.Dork, but Kelly crossed Dork with Kavorkian and hence the new moniker Dr.Dorkian. Very fitting.
Yesterday, Dr.B got the ax and was replaced by Dr.Y, who is the Oncologist and now GK is recieving competent care from a compasionate doc. He is off all the sedating medications so that an evaluation of his condition can be made. They will start from scratch and work their way back to the best state of health that can be expected.
It goes without saying that there have been a million moments that have gone on throughout what I have told you. Some when we have laughed, and many when we have cried. The most important part is our family has been a great support to one another. When one starts to get weary, there is another right there to support and pick up and keep things going. We all have our own lives and things to be tended to with kids and jobs and the everyday stesses that are always present, but it's an amazing thing when we all kick into overdrive and meet the situation at hand. My eyes start leaking whenever I stop and think how BLESSED we are as a family.
I think maybe someday, when things settle down, I'll write a book. Something along the lines of the Charlies Angels series.
Me and my Sisters.
Superheroe's dissguised as everyday Housewives and Mothers crusading for the general good of American Families everywhere.
Our Superhero disguise could be Mom jeans and Winnie the Pooh sweatshirts from Wal-Mart, with sensible shoes and kleenex in our pockets driving a rocket powered mini van with plenty of cup holders and saftey tethers.
See Ya!
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