Dad had a very hard night.  The doors to the rooms on the eleventh floor actually have a glass window, with blinds that open outside in the hall - so nurses can take a quick look into the patient's room without opening the door.  They are in and out of his room constantly, but they also peek through the window to make sure everything is okay.  Last night, one of the nurses actually put her computer on a portable desk and rolled it over in front of Dad's door.  She opened the blinds so that she could see inside, and that is where she stayed all night long.  The nurses are truly wonderful at Vanderbilt.  It doesn't matter how difficult the job they're performing is, there is always a smile on their faces.  Nurses are special, under-appreciated people that deserve more accolades than I could ever give them.

When I got to Dad's room, he was sitting in the chair.  He was completely off the wall.  I don't think he said one thing that made sense to me while I was there.  He told me that he had been on TV.  He said he could remember standing in front of the camera.  I asked him what he wore, and he said he wore exactly what he had on then (a gown and bright yellow non-slip socks).  I told Dad that the camera was probably aimed at those bright yellow socks for most of his filming time, and he told me that he definitely had on the same outfit.  He was filmed at OHS in the library on the second floor, and "That is a fact."  His male nurse was in the room, and Dad asked me if the police were there.  He asked me if I filed a report last night.  He talked of constitutional rights, and of accepting a phone call from a lawyer to help with corporate law.......and through it all, he fidgeted.  I would liken it to a child with ADHD who had missed his medicine for several days, and then was forced to stay in one spot with nothing to do.  He kept his eyes closed, but he picked, jerked and fidgeted constantly.  Even when he was asleep, he would jerk and wake himself up every few minutes.  The sheets were up and then they were down.  He was also confused about who was in the room.  He thought I was Clay, he thought Mom was Gregory and he was sure that Annie was in the room too.  Dr. Moots told Mom that he thinks a lot of this confusion will level out.  I hope his prediction comes true very soon.

When I first arrived, his blood pressure was 89/45.  Between his very low blood pressure, his extreme confusion and his lab work, they decided that his system is completely out of whack.  So, they stopped his Sodium Bicarbonate IV and put him on fluids strictly meant to bring his blood pressure up.  When I left this afternoon, it was 109/49.  Dr. Stein feels like it is going to take several days to get Dad's body back to where it needs to be, so he told them not to expect to get out of the hospital for a few more days.

He complained of a sore throat, and when they checked out his throat, they found he has thrush.  I think that is a pretty common occurrence with chemo, but it is still very painful.

They are going to have to give him medicine to calm him down again tonight - I just hope that it works better tonight than it did last night.

The bad news continues for Kristie:  Rich got diagnosed with the swine flu tonight.  He is the oldest person who has been diagnosed with swine flu at Convenient Care (a dubious distinction at best!).  The nurse told Kristie that she shouldn't see Dad for at least several weeks.  She is SO upset over not seeing Dad.  Kristie has a call in to her own doctor's office to see if she can get started on Tamiflu, and also if they have the same recommendations about staying away from Dad as Convenient Care does.  Rich and his mom have been taking care of everything, boys and house, while Kristie has been driving back and forth.  The doctor told Rich that he won't be taking care of ANYTHING for the next 7 days.  They are going to have to give him some "oinkment" for treatment.  Sorry Rich, that is a terrible pharmacy joke that I had to throw in there.   He is truly very sick, and I hope that he feels better soon.

I am planning on going back to Nashville tomorrow, even though Mom has told me I have travelled enough this week.  She told me that she always listens to me, so that I need to listen to her!  I have never been a good listener.  Sorry, Mom :-) !!!!!!

Love,
Renee