Countdown to Part II

Amidst all the family chaos - I still have been studying for the BEC section of the CPA exam...test day is Friday, February 29th. :) I was lucky enough to still be able to take this whole week off (Feb. 25-29), even with my "extra" time off for the spur-of-the-moment trip to OK. My bosses are the best!!!

Keep good thoughts, prayers, wishes, etc. out there for me - I sure can use all the help I can get... :D

What?!?

Well...this week Dad ended up back at the hospital! He was acting weird again, and couldn't remember who he was or where he was. So, less than two weeks after he was admitted to the hospital a first time, he was back in for a second time. He's at the VA instead, and they aren't letting him out until he is stabilized. Pretty much his symptoms are like Alzheimer's or some other sort of dementia. If I didn't know better, I would guess Alzheimer's; but since Alzheimer's is very slow to develop that cannot be what is going on.

The good part about this second hospital stay is that the doctor doesn't think he has a seizure disorder, so they are tapering him off the anti-seizure medication. :) That is good news, since the medication could have been causing some of the weird symptoms. He's been improving steadily since they started reducing the dosage...coincidence?

My dad's friend (was pre-med, then decided medicine wasn't for him) thinks it is some sort of chemical imbalance (anti-seizure meds, anyone?). Apparently, whatever is causing the problem is neither physical/emotional. The neurologist originally thought that he was suffering from some sort of deep depression, but after the psychiatrist visited they're back to "we aren't sure..." Seriously, we need Dr. House to step in here! (or anyone that can make a good diagnosis in this case)

So far, he is doing much better and still improving every day. Mom is a trooper and spends her days in the hospital, then returns home at night to do the same thing over again. She's definitely one to be a great caregiver and step up when she is needed! There's a special spot in heaven waiting for her... :)

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig

As terrible as I am at updating, it shouldn't be a surprise of the time lag between posts...

Continuing the story about dad...the doctors never did find the reason for the seizure/fever, but have advised dad to get an MRI with contrast (which allows them to see more than without contrast) to make sure he doesn't have any small tumors growing in his brain. They tried to do this before he left the hospital, but he was dehydrated and apparently the contrast dye they use can cause kidney damage. They didn't want to risk any harm and a longer hospital stay, so they told him that he should schedule the MRI as an outpatient.

Dad finally got out of the hospital on Friday (Feb. 8) in the afternoon. They told him he would get out when they were on rounds around 11:a, but by the time all the paperwork was completed it was 3-something in the afternoon! That was hard, since we all wanted to get out of the hospital as soon as we could. :)

Once we got home, we were all hovering around dad like helicopter moms at their worst! I'm sure dad was none too pleased with that, but he is a good sport about it. TexSis and I finally gave the parents their Christmas gifts (long story short - they were supposed to come down for Christmas, but the weather ruined the plans and we never sent the gifts) and among them was Meerkat Manor seasons 1-3 for dad. So, later that day we had to watch some season 1 Meerkat Manor. I didn't realize I have seen some of the season 1 episodes - I guess through re-runs since I only started watching a few months ago.

I booked a flight home Thursday night for my return to home - I figured I would be more help at home than in OK, since I could at least help out with the girls. Well, that and I know I was absolutely no help in OK. Okay, maybe just "being there" was help...and that's stretching things a bit. I flew on ExpressJet - a new experience. They were pretty good - and I even got snacks! I thought airplane snacks were a thing of the past, but I got crackers, cookies, peanuts and a mint; plus, I got a whole can of soda and not just a thimble-full. :) The flight attendant was a little bubbly for my tastes, but her TX twang was funny - I knew her accent was from TX before I saw the Longhorns lanyard holding her ID. Weird!

Paging Dr. House!

I feel like we're in the middle of a House episode... Yesterday, we found out that whatever caused the seizure and fever is not any form of encephalitis (herpes or otherwise). So, basically they don't know what caused anything or why he had the seizure. The only thing we know is that he had a seizure and then spiked a 104+ temperature! Sort of frustrating, but the good news is that if everything goes well today dad could be coming home this afternoon. :) This is probably the best news ever, since we thought it would be a couple weeks until he would get out of the hospital. I know that being out of the hospital will be good for dad, since he really hates being there and when you're at home you can always get much more rest.

The doctors don't feel like they need to run more tests to definitively figure out what caused anything, they're just treating the after-effects. In a nutshell, he will be on seizure meds for awhile (Kepra) and cannot drive until he is seizure-free for six-months. Totally puts a crimp in dad's independence, but it is the law and it's better to be safe than sorry.

2008? Not so great...

Well...it hasn't been that long since the last post, but some yucky stuff is going on... :P

Yesterday afternoon, TexSis received a call from Bro and he told us that our dad was in the hospital and had a stroke! Immediately, TexSis and I arranged to leave for OK as soon as we could and arrived this morning around 3:am (yawn!). Thankfully, both of us were able to leave on a moment's notice and have very understanding bosses...

This morning, when we arrived at the hospital to see Dad, we had no firm diagnosis. Apparently, he had been uncooperative the previous day and had to be restrained to keep him from pulling out IVs. Also, he was conscious and could move, but could not speak. It was very shocking to see him so frail and fragile like that, but the thing that upset me the most was seeing him in the restraints. I understand the need, but it is really hard to see when the person you know would never need restraints when normal.

A couple hours after we arrived, we finally saw a doctor and he was able to give us a better understanding of what was going on - clean lumbar puncture (no meningitis), clean MRI (no signs of stroke). The diagnosis given to us was Herpes Encephalitis (go here for an overview). Which is not very common, but is also a much better diagnosis than a stroke. The doctor was talking about recovery in weeks and not months, which is a great relief! The bad thing was he was still acting confused, was easily agitated and still could not speak. They were already giving him antiviral medication before they had ruled out meningitis and stroke as a precation, so by the time the results of the tests were back he had been on the medication for 12+ hours.

By the time mom and I left the hospital, they had put a feeding tube in his nose and had confirmed that he was able to move/control his limbs and could stand up an support himself. The feeding tube is necessary for some medications they prescribed which are not available for IV use and also in case it is necessary for nourishment. The tests for his swallowing were not good, so he is not able to take any medications orally right now.

A little while after mom and I got home to pack TexSis an overnight bag, she called and told us that dad actually made a sentence. Nothing too exciting, but it was speech! I suspected that he was getting a little more aware/responsive, and was expecting him to start yelling to get him out of there any time. I'm assuming that the speaking is a great thing, but we won't know anything else for sure until we get to talk to the doctors again tomorrow.

I'll keep you posted! :)

Weekly (or is it monthly?) Update - 2/3/08

hmmmmmmmmmm - what have I been up to in the last month? First and foremost, studying...studying...and more studying! I'm getting to the burnout point and am starting to wonder if it is all worth it. I'm sure this is normal, since it happened about halfway through last time... :P The countdown has started...26 more days and counting down... I know Feb. 29 will be here before I know it and I don't feel one bit prepared! There is something sticking, since somehow I can answer the M/C questions from my study materials. However, in my head, I don't feel like I'm one bit prepared and that everything is just going in one ear and out the other.

I've still been beading up a storm, at least as much as I can. KayTee and I actually did some beading on MLK day and watched some movies... I don't know why I didn't pick up beading again long before this, since I LOVED to shop for beads nany, many years ago in Chicago. The one thing I didn't count on when I started beading again is the addiction to buying beads! The best place I have found to shop online is here. They have every kind of bead I can imagine and their prices are not too bad PLUS they offer free shipping! Can't beat that! The only bad part is I don't get to actually see in person what I'm ordering, but I guess that's what a local craft store is for... I need to take some pictures of my latest projects, but I've been lazy and can't figure out the best light to photograph my work.

The AD girls loved the beaded bookmarks! They had a blast and each made at least two bookmarks. A couple of the girls were going to use the bookmarks for hair ties, cute idea but not exactly what we were going for... A few of the other girls made pretty much solid beads strings for their bookmarks...I don't think they understood the concept, but they still had fun. I think that's what counts anyway, right? The other AD we had in January was a service project to clean the nursery toys, easy and not too time-consuming. We only have one hour, so time is of the essence with our activities. The cleaning went really quick for us though and we had all the toys cleaned and dried in about 30-35 min! They were quick and the toys were dirty! The vinegar water we were washing the toys in ended up a really nasty brownish-yellow color. Makes me cringe to think about it! :P

I ordered one of these last week. I thought it looked interesting to use and would be good for portion control. I know that I need to eat better and I'm hoping this will help out a bit. I know I need to take baby steps, so this is the first I guess. I also know I probably don't need to lose many pounds, but I could settle for some inches (especially in my lower half)! In my head, I know this means I really need to get to the gym, but for now eating better and the exercise I can fit in here and there will have to do. Once the CPA exam is finished...(theoretically) I will get back to the gym, but I wouldn't count on it!