I had to read back through the last post to see what it said. It's been an eventful 2 days! When I asked Bill Saturday if he had pushed his button for help to the bathroom, he just said he couldn't remember. It hadn't been moved and his urinal was by his bed, but he may have needed to have a bowel movement and, out of habit, just got up. I noticed that he had disposable underwear on and his new sleep pants were nowhere around, so he must have messed them, probably when he fell. I asked about them and they said to check with lost and found since they didn't have his name in them, but didn't say where lost and found was located. They just told me to make sure his name was in everything, even though I had indicated that I would do his laundry. But since he was wearing those when he got there, it was kind of hard to write his name in them!

He was on tank air, and it was on 5, but it was on pulse instead of continuous. This means that he would only get oxygen when he took a breath through his nose. I changed it and his nurse came in and his sats were very low again. But, she discovered that the regulator that was being used had to connections and the one he was connected to wasn't giving him any oxygen at all! The only good to come out of that was that we now know he can't consistently breathe room air!

He still didn't want to eat and I again forced him to eat some oatmeal. I told him if he didn't start eating they would put in a feeding tube and since he hated that when he had it before he tried to eat some more. We managed to coax him to sit in his wheelchair and I pushed him around some to orient him to where he was and where things were, like the dining room. I was hoping I could get him to eat lunch there instead of his room, but he said he wanted a tray. Lunch was just about an exact repeat of supper the other night, hamburger helper, just a different flavor and a different vegetable. They also serve them a fruit punch to drink. I don't know why they think old people would enjoy that!

One thing that we noticed is that the people who are eating in their rooms, whether they are bedfast or not, or need assistance or not, get fed after the dining room meal is finished and the patients (I almost put inmates!) are back in their rooms, or roaming around. Bill did not get his cold hot lunch for almost 1 1/2 hours after the others, and I had to ask about it! 

He was ready to go back to bed after he picked at his meal so we got him back into bed. His sats were low again and he was on tank air. But, he didn't seem to be in distress again, just a little lethargic and he's been that way before, even when his sats were good. I asked if I could bring him food and they said yes, so I told Bill I was cooking his dinner and asked what he wanted. He said he would eat anything I cooked. When I went home to see what I had to fix I got a text from his nurse that his O2 was 93% and his heart rate was 77, really good numbers for him. Bill loves chicken so I took him 1/2 a sauteed chicken breast and a twice baked potato. He ate all of the chicken and half of the potato. I also took him a glass of tea. We visitied for a bit and he and his roommate started swapping war stories. He had been an Army helicopter pilot.

I got a call yesterday morning about 6 telling me that Bill had complained that his stomach and lower back hurt and then he vomited. His O2 sat was 44! He should have passed out! They gave him 2 breathing treatments and said he needed to go to the hospital and asked where I wanted him sent. I told them our local hospital to get him stabilized. I called Emily and we were waiting on him at the emergency room.

He was on a re-breather which gives high flow oxygen and he was still only in the 50s. The Dr. said he was in hypoxia and very critical. I told them to call Dr. Edwards at Baptist transplant and Dr. Edwards said to intubate him and get him shipped. He had also gone to the bathroom, so they had to get him cleaned up. He was awake but very agitated, mostly about messing himself.

Emily and I were sent to the waiting room while they sedated and intubated him and then the flight crew arrived to transport him. We left as they were taking him to the helicopter to go home and do what we needed to do before heading to Memphis. We were quite a sight, too. Neither of us were showered, but at that point, we didn't care. Because of where our house is located in relation to the hospital, we are right in the flight path for the helicopter, so I heard him fly over. At least it was a nice sunny day.

I discovered that, in our area at least, you can blow by a cop doing 95 with your flashers on and they won't stop you...or radio ahead for someone else to get you. Most of the time traffic did yield and traffic was light. I made the 1 1/2 hour trip in just under an hour. 

Since he was a direct admit to the transplant ICU, we bypassed the ER and walked the long hallway. He was already settled and tests were being and had been run. One of our favorite nurses was on the floor, although she was not his nurse. So many people were in and out, xray, ultrasound for his stomach and kidneys, respiratory, cardiology for an echo. They also placed an ng tube which is the tube in his nose. It not only will drain stomach contents, but it can be used for feeding if necessary. One of the kidney doctors ordered a Foley catheter, and last night at shift change Alison told Lauren that it was not to be removed without a direct order from a dr. One of Dr. Threlkeld's associates was on call and she was not familiar with Bill at all, so she did a very thorough examination and then started a couple of precautionary antibiotics. Dr. Munday was on call for pulmonology and he said that since he was already intubated he was going to do another broncoscopy. I told him the staff here had suctioned a bunch of stuff out before he was transported, but he said they may as well do it and get some cultures going. So, we were sent off to the cafeteria for some lunch that I didn't want. But, they had some really good chicken and dumpling soup and Emily and I both had it. I ate all of mine and she was satisified.

He started to wake up shortly after we got back to the room and responded with nods and squeezes. But he got very agitated and started to reach for the ng tube so they had to use some mild restraints and then lightly sedate him again. 

Dr. Edwards came in and said that it was lower right lobe pneumonia, which means aspiration again, and I don't remember him choking and I don't think it would have become that apparent from aspirating from vomiting that morning. He said that the right side of his heart was a little sluggish and he had compared all of the echos. I told him it was always sluggish from the transplant and he just didn't want to hear that. He thought that if this was going to keep happening, and therapy didn't help, he would have to have a jpeg which is the feeding tube in his stomach and just not be able to eat or drink. Bill will not like that at all! But, that's a bit down the road before we have to make that decision. He didn't think there was any medical reason for us to stay the night so we decided to go home.

We had noticed that his heart rate kept alarming and Alison assured us that it was just because of the sedation, so they stopped one of them. But, the next time his blood pressure was checked it had dropped to 82/54 and his heart rate dropped to 40 and suddenly, we had just about every nurse on the unit in the room. Jacinta was massaging his chest and trying to wake him up, a crash cart was brought in and they were getting all kinds of things...just like you see on a medical show. They did not have to shock him but they gave him a medicine to keep his heart rate around 100, which is what they give after transplant. Before we left his heart rate was back up and his blood pressure was back up.  We still decided to leave, as there was nothing we could do but wait anyway. They said they would call if there were any changes and I haven't heard a thing.

They are hoping to extubate him today and remove the ng tube. I don't know what other tests will be done, we'll see when I get there. Emily is not going with me today, she is going to work. But, if I need her to come, she will leave work, grab Bryan and head down. She said Bryan would probably call one of his cop friends for an escort, they did it before with the last heart attack!

I did ask Bill if he thought he was dying with all of the tubes and everything and he told me no. I told him that was good because he promised me that he would live to be 103 and I was going to hold him to that and that he would not be going back to that nursing home. We may have some difficult decisions to make in the next few days and weeks, but they don't have to be made immediately. 

So, long update and I need to get moving. There is more to tell, but that will have to wait. For now the hairdryer is calling my name, along with getting dressed and feeding the outside cats and, and, and.

Keep us in your prayers, we can both use them!