My sick Dadda

My Dad has been really, really, really sick. He was admitted to the VA hospital (via the Emergency Room) Monday afternoon - right after we got home from our cruise. Many tests were run (echo, EKG, Spinal Tap, blood work, biopsies, etc) and it was determined that he has Meningitis, and a blood infection called STAPH, and both are deadly. Meningitis can kill an infant and young teenager; in adults it causes severe swelling & inflammation of the brain, spinal cord, nerve endings, etc and can lead to death if not treated in 72 hours. (Monday was Dad's 72nd hour). STAPH is a deadly disease also - turns out it eats your organs and basically you die from the inside out.

My sisters and brothers armed ourselves and abandoned our families & kids (almost) to support our Dad. We've driven to SLC every day and stayed all day and in through the night. Thursday we received news that after yet another test (a Trans-Esophagial Ultrasound where they shove a tube down your throat accompanied by a scope/ultrasound device which views the heart and views the back side of the heart) the doc's saw a hole in Dad's Mitral Valve, a 2 cm blood clot, and a leaking Aortic Valve. They said Dad needed his heart operated on imminently - perhaps Friday or Saturday. That changed to a Friday operation, then they changed it to Thursday night to: "this needs to be done immediately" and they whisked Dad away for open heart surgery. All of this happened in less than one hour - Kristie called us with the news that Dad was going to have open heart surgery possibly Friday or Saturday at 11 am Thursday. By 12 noon Dad was on the gurney headed towards surgery. The tech was waiting for him while Josh finished giving Dad a blessing. Jo & I didn't get to SLC soon enough to say our loves to Dad before they took him to an OR that they opened just for him.

Dad had open heart surgery Thursday at 3:00pm. He was out of surgery by 9:15pm, and we were allowed a quick "look" once they transferred him to the Surgical ICU. He was intubated, restrained, and every part of his body was hooked up to a monitor or had tubes coming out of it.

These pictures are from Friday, January 23rd. JoJo & I spent the afternoon and evening with Dad. Here he has 4 chest tubes, which are inserted in the plural/abdominal cavities to help drain blood and fluids, tubes coming out his neck (yes, there is a tube going into his jugular) chest, and arms. He has electrical wires coming out of his heart - just in case the docs need to "stimulate" his heart to beat. And, on top of all of this, he had the middle finger on his Left hand operated on just a few hours after getting done with open heart surgery (his finger is almost all black - a sign that the tissue is dead).

The docs think Dad is an enigma; we think our Dad is incredible and amazingly strong incredible to endure all he has.

No one but Josh had a shower.

Thursday, 1/22, as we wait to hear about our Dad

Wow - Friday night, 1/23. JoJo helping dad with ice chips

All these tubes...scary

Student Nurse, Adam, helping Dad to stand and get in bed

My Dadda - completely wiped out