Friday, April 30, 2010

Dad Update again

Dad went to the Drs again this week to follow up on last weeks visit and Renie went with him with LOTS of questions. Understandably.

Most of Renie’s questions were about Dad’s allowed level of activities. Like, should he be going up the stairs to the apartment, should he be running a marathon, that kind of stuff. Obviously, there are no marathons in Dad’s future but he is allowed to do what ever he wants, he just has to listen to his body. His heart will tell him if he’s overtaxing it.

And if he gets blockheaded about listening to his heart, his heart will make SURE he listens. Like the day he was coming down the steps and got dizzy and fell the rest of the way. He was not hurt but had to sit at the bottom for a while. That was the day Renie wanted to switch apartments with me and dad said NO.

Dad is supposed to use his head about his activity levels and getting plenty of rest. The Dr will also sign that he needs a scooter for getting around so that will help him as well. Renie is working on that with the insurance company today.

This Dr said there is a 25% chance that Dad wouldn’t make it through the surgery to repair his valves with his heart the way it is now. So they don’t want to take that chance and are moving on to other options.

The Dr is concerned about Dad and the heat this summer.  He will be easily dehydrated by the heat but then we have to watch to make sure he doesn't start retaining water because that will mean there is fluid around his heart and that's not good either.  It will be a delicate balance that Dad will have to find by paying attention to his body. 

I in the meantime, have to find a nice hunk-a-male to help put Dads air conditioners in the windows when it starts heating up outside.  Or it will be me and BFF Neicy doing it.  But either way, it WILL get done and without Dad touching a single one!

The other questions that were answered were of course about the heart transplant and the pump. The Dr wants Dad to see a specialist at University of PA to be evaluated for both. They have had good success with the pump procedure; lots of patients don’t need the heart transplant.

So, they will be setting Dad up for an evaluation with this TOP Dr at U of P to see what the next step with them will be.  Until then, status quo.

4 comments:

  1. In this case, status quo is a good thing! My FIL had a scooter and he thought he was somethin' in it. I hope your dad likes his new toy also.

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  2. new toys are cool...and glad the update is relatively good...

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  3. Glad your dad is doing better. Tell him to be careful coming down the stairs. I fell down my last two and my foot is still sore ( that was about 5 weeks ago)

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  4. I will put your Dad on my prayer list. I hope he gets the exact treatment that he needs. Falling down stairs is painful. I know about it firsthand. Four years ago, one of my students pushed another down a flight of stairs, I leaned forward to grab the child and threw him to the side rail, then I went tumbling down face forward. I heard my hip crack. Now, it has developed arthritis around the break.

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