Dad underwent a procedure this morning to insert a feeding tube in his abdomen. They had to bypass the stomach somehow, since it's not doing it's job.
Dad was awake tonight when we went to see him....well, at least his eyes were open. He is still heavily medicated, which causes him to be very confused. With them playing "musical hospitals" the past few days, Dad doesn't know where he is....I had to tell him which facility he was at.
The procedure took longer than they anticipated because of the extreme amount of lesions and scar tissue from his extensive surgery back in 1996 to repair the aneurysms in his abdomen.
He doesn't have the tube in his nose anymore, only the oxygen. He has apparently been back to his old trick of pulling things out. He pulled off all the bandages on his stomach this afternoon. Luckily, he didn't get low enough to pull out the feeding tube they just inserted...that would have been a disaster because they couldn't have put it back in. They now have his arms tied down so he can't pull anything out. We all agree that Dad doesn't even know he is being so destructive with his hands, but until he is more coherent and not under the influence of so much medication, they are keeping his arms secured to the sides of the bed just to be safe. It's hard seeing Dad that way, but it's for his own good. He is in a room directly across from the nursing station so that the nursing staff can keep a close watch.
Hopefully, now that Dad can start getting some good nutrition, his recovery will be more on track of where it should be. I'm not sure how soon they can start utilizing the new feeding tube. From my research on the Internet today, it sounded like 24 hours from the procedure to insert it.
We feel very grateful to Dr. DeLaRosa for making the decision to transfer Dad back to the Heart and Vascular Center. He told Mom the reason he had Dad moved yesterday was that he was thoroughly disgusted with what the medical team at west campus was doing with Dad and decided Dad would be better off to remain under his care. I definitely agree!
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