It's been a crazy couple of weeks around here folks. Let me bring you all up to speed.
Several days before Sarah's First Communion, my 93 year-old father-in-law who has been living with us since Thanksgiving became ill. He had no appetite, he was tired, just not acting like he normally does.
I took him to the doctor on Tuesday, May 1st and found out he had a urinary tract infection. Apparently, older people get bladder infections and don't know it because they've lost feeling "down there".
He started a round of antibiotics but was still very tired and had zero appetite. Dr. Google told me that older people have a hard time recovering from UTIs and it is normal for it to take weeks for them to feel like their old selves.
So we somehow managed to make it through the rest of the week. Dan's family came in for Sarah's First Communion and we had a lovely weekend - except Grampa was lethargic, no appetite, not talkative, just out of it the entire weekend.
Sensing something still wasn't right and not trusting Dr. Google, we took him back to the doctor on May 7th. Even though he was extremely weak and could barely even walk, he pepped right up when it was time to talk to the PA. She took more urine and more blood, told us elderly folks have a hard time recovery from UTIs and that he was just tired from that. She then sent us on our merry way. Before leaving, she told us the UTI was gone and would call us the next day with the results of the blood work.
On Tuesday, the doctor's office called back with the results of the blood work and informed us that Grampa was dehydrated and that we needed to get him to take more fluids.
So, thus began a long day of trying to wake him up, sit him up and get him to drink something.
At this point, he didn't even want to sit up, it seemed that he was in pain every time he tried. We got as much as we could get in him and that led us to Wednesday.
That morning, I got him to sit up every 45 minutes and take 8 ounces of water. However, it was apparent he was still in pain. I had to take Peter to the allergist for his yearly appointment so I asked my mom to come over while I was gone to sit with him and get him to take fluids.
When I arrived home from Peter's appointment, mom and I agreed that this wasn't normal. He could not sit up without screaming out in pain and we felt completely hopeless.
I called the doctor's office and basically told them, "don't tell me to bring him in because I can't even get him to sit up without him screaming". I knew he needed to go to the hospital but I guess I wanted them to confirm it.
I called my husband at work and he rushed home. He tried to get him to sit up but every movement caused him great pain so we had to call 911. We knew there was no way we could get him down the steps.
The ambulance showed up at our house, got Grampa on a stretcher and whisked him away to the emergency room.
7 hours later he was finally in a room and was diagnosed with dehydration (which we already knew). Apparently the dehydration was causing him pain all through out his body.
They also diagnosed him with pneumonia. 6 days, many bags of fluid and many doses of antibiotics later, he has been transferred to a rehab center. He is still very weak so they will be working with him to help walk, feed himself, go to the bathroom, etc. Hopefully after some physical therapy he will be good as new!
Last week was a very stressful week - there were lots of hours logged in the hospital, lots of prayers, lots of phone calls and emails to family members but thankfully it looks as if he will be okay.
I lost 4 pounds last week due to stress and not eating - but don't worry Mom - I managed to gain it all back at the beach this past weekend.
Exciting pictures of the kids on the beach coming tomorrow! Come back because you know you don't want to miss seeing someone else's vacation pictures!
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